


Fugue

by Mohito



Series: Before and After. [3]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 08:12:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 94,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10849980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mohito/pseuds/Mohito
Summary: So dear reader, here we are again. I fell in love with the idea for this work during the last one. I tried to fight it but I started writing thinking 'Oh, I'll just keep it short.'Ya OK...Sure.This (again) is VERY long. It's part of a series but you don't have to read the earlier works to know what's going on, I added a little backstory because I do realize not everyone has oddles of time on their hands as I do.(Not really though)Please forgive any grammar mistakes, I try man but it's a bitch!I loved writing this and I hope you enjoy it.So let the music fill your heart as the song begins..





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So dear reader, here we are again. I fell in love with the idea for this work during the last one. I tried to fight it but I started writing thinking 'Oh, I'll just keep it short.'
> 
> Ya OK...Sure.
> 
> This (again) is VERY long. It's part of a series but you don't have to read the earlier works to know what's going on, I added a little backstory because I do realize not everyone has oddles of time on their hands as I do.
> 
> (Not really though)
> 
> Please forgive any grammar mistakes, I try man but it's a bitch!
> 
> I loved writing this and I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> So let the music fill your heart as the song begins..

Ian was on a night shift and tired as hell, he guzzled coffee and tried not to think about the shit they saw every night on the streets of Chicago. It was bad tonight, Chris said it was the full moon but he knew that was bullshit. People were just nasty to each other and he was on edge and frustrated, he felt like what they did made no difference at all. There just wasn’t enough goodness in the world he thought. 

He knew he was thinking too much but sometimes this job got to him. He was happy in his life, he and Mickey were fixing up the house they bought and maybe that’s why he was so tired, he was working or smashing walls at the moment. He fiddled with his ring without thinking and thought about the house, it was old and broken down but the structure was good and there was potential in it. 

They had saved for three years after they came back to Chicago and they had looked for over 6 months, they wanted a home not just a house. The house was perfect for them, it was one floor and had lots of big old windows that Ian loved. They still only had a few pieces of furniture but Ian knew what he wanted to do with the house once they got the walls and floors done. They had changed the floor plan a bit to open up the kitchen, there were two bedrooms and Ian thought it was good they had the extra room, between his family and Heidi there was bound to be someone in the extra room on any given night.

“You alright.” Chris said. 

“Ya, long night.” Ian said.

The static broke through the radio and there was a call.

“It’s about to get longer.” Chris said and picked up the radio. 

They pulled up to chaos, the blue lights of three cop cars all pointed toward an old broken down building on the outskirts of the South Side. He didn’t know anyone on this side of town, this is where the hard core junkies hung out and made holes to curl up and shoot up. 

The call was a domestic and those were the worst, you never knew what you were walking into and he steeled himself for what he might see. They couldn’t go in until the cops gave them the all clear but they jumped out of the front and grabbed their gear from the back of the rig. 

Ian heard a woman’s voice screaming. 

“No don’t take him, no no no!” She screeched as the cops dragged out a scruffy man in shorts with his hands cuffed behind his back. The woman had blood dripping down her face and even at a distance he could see her clothes were torn and she was barefoot. 

She grabbed at the cops arms and they only pulled away and kept moving down the stairs. 

“I told you to get rid of him ya fuckin whore.” The man in cuffs said with a sneer.

The woman wailed and her arms fell to her sides. 

The cops shoved him in the back of the car and they got the all clear wave to go in. Ian walked past the car and the man was kicking into the seat in front of him violently. 

“Fucking fag.” The man said. “Little fucking bitch. Faggot.” The man ranted and Ian brought his eyebrows together, he wasn’t talking to him, he was raging to himself in the back of the police car. Chris guided the wailing woman inside and Ian took the stairs quickly behind them bringing the bag. He turned into the first open door and entered an empty kitchen. He could see from the hallway light that there was blood everywhere, on the floor across the table and splashed against the wall. 

‘Holy shit.’ He thought. Chris crouched down as the woman sat the woman against the outer wall on the floor to start taking care of her eye and open wound on her head. 

Ian had an unsettled feeling, it was something he couldn’t shake the longer he stood behind Chris as she spoke in low tones to the weeping woman and listened to her wail. Something was wrong with this situation and he felt it more and more as he looked around the dirty empty kitchen and it came to him with a sinking heart. 

There was too much blood.

Ian stepped back and walked carefully toward the dark room to his right, he let his eyes adjust to the dim light before he stepped all the way in, it was a dirty as the kitchen but he saw works and a mirror on the floor and garbage scattered around the room. He moved over to a door that was closed to the right, he turned the handle and the door creaked open. 

“EMT.” He said. If there was someone in there they had heard him coming now. 

“I’m just here to help, is anybody hurt?” He called out as he stepped into the room. There was a mattress with a top sheet on it and nothing else but the room was clean and totally bare like the rest of the old apartment. Ian started to turn around and step out of the room when out of the corner of his eye he saw the closet was partially open. He squinted his eyes and could see from the street lights that shone in the room a dark mark low on the outside of the white door. Ian walked to the door and as he moved closer he saw the dark mark was a hand print, a small hand print. Ian’s heart dropped and his mind put up the block that he needed and he opened the closet door. 

Ian saw a boy curled up into a ball into the corner. Ian crouched down and opened the door wider to let in what little light there was in the room. His hair and face were covered in blood, his chest and arms were wrapped in the blood covered blanket and pillow he had taken from the bed when he had hid. 

“Hey.” Ian said quietly. The boy didn’t move. 

Ian didn’t want to scare him and lifted his arm slowly, he touched his shoulder and in a flash Ian realized he was unconscious. He reached out and grabbed him up whipping around and ran through the living room and back out to the kitchen.

“Gallagh…Oh my God.” Chris said. 

“It was his fault!!! His!! Little faggot!” The woman on the floor screamed. 

He heard Chris behind him as they stormed down the stairs. Chris ran ahead and opened the door stepping up and turned to him, Ian gently lifted the boy and Chris lifted him and turned to the stretcher and lowered him down carefully. 

“Jesus.” Chris said as Ian jumped in behind her. 

“Go.” Ian said and Chris jumped into the front and hit the lights and sirens while Ian did his assessment. He pulled the bloody blankets away and his blood boiled when he saw he was wearing only shorts, it was fucking winter and there had been no heat in the apartment. Ian took a breath and tried to calm down focusing on the IV after seeing the kid was breathing, it was slow but steady. Ian ripped two warm blankets out of the heater and wrapped him up. There was a cut over his eye and Ian saw his mouth all ripped up. He took deep breathes to try and stop his eyes from stinging, he saw this more than he cared to think about but this kid was scrawny, all skin and bones and had been brutally beaten. He was older than he had first thought, when he saw him in the closet he had thought he was about 10, he had been all curled up trying to make himself as small as possible. 

Ian kept pressure on the deeper wounds and brought the blanket down enough to look at the kids knuckles, he hadn’t fought back or he hadn’t had a chance to. He saw the red deep marks over his chest and stomach, someone had kicked him. Ian heart cracked and he felt the rage roll through his gut. He carefully covered him back up to his shoulders with the blanket and tucked the corners around him. 

“You’re OK man, I got you.” Ian said and didn’t hear the tears in his voice. 

“You’re OK now.” He said again and laid his hand over one of his hands over the blanket while he kept pressure on his head wound with the other. 

 

The boy on the stretcher heard the voice coming from far away and for the first time in a long time he wasn’t afraid. 

 

Ian waited with his arms crossed and bit his thumb nail while the doctors worked on the boy. 

“Broken nose and cheek bone.” He heard. Ian’s heart sank, to break a cheek bone you needed to hold someone down and slam into their face. He was in shock and the nurses put another blanket over him.

He saw the nurses clean up the blood and saw he had a gash on his head where most of the blood had come from. His hair was so red with blood Ian couldn’t tell what color his hair was. 

“Broken ear drum.” The doctor said as he turned the boys head to the side. The doctor moved down to his chest and Ian flinched when he put pressure on his ribs. “Two, no three broken ribs.”.

Ian fidgeted and watched them move around him and start to put his little body back together. 

“How is he?” Chris said as she came up beside him holding the bag over her shoulder.

Ian shook his head. Chris put her arm on his shoulder.

“That was a bad one.” Chris said. Ian didn’t respond, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the kid on the bed. Chris turned away and started walking.

“Gallagher.” She said.

Ian stared down at the boy and knew he had to go, this was part of the job but this kid had torn his heart open and he didn’t want to leave him here alone. 

“Ian.” Chris said in a gentle tone.

Ian brought his hand away from his mouth and turned away from him but didn’t take his eyes away from the broken boy until they turned around the corner. 

 

Mickey woke up when he felt Ian getting into bed, he turned toward him and he felt Ian’s arm come around him. Ian’s arms pulled him in and held him like a vice. 

“Hey.” Mickey said and ran his hand through his hair.

He felt Ian’s chest heave and pulled his face back, Ian’s face was wet with tears and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Mickey’s heart sank and his eyes stung, the waves of sadness just poured out of Ian. 

Mickey pulled him back into his shoulder and held his neck. Ian held him tightly and he heard him take in quick breathes and grip into him with his fingertips. Mickey rubbed his back and kissed his cheek and ran his hand through his hair until the shaking slowed and his breath eased. 

Ian’s hand came up to his neck and he pulled his face away from his shoulder, he kissed him slowly and deepened the kiss as pulled Mickey’s face into his. Mickey moved his hand down Ian’s arm that held his neck and slid his hand down his side, the love in him welled up and the heat surged inside him, he gripped Ian’s waist as Ian teased his tongue and Mickey rolled over him. He kissed him deeply and his thumb held his jaw, he felt Ian’s hand move slowly over his back and he took in a deep long breath and lowered his mouth to Ian’s neck. Ian held his head as he moved his mouth over his skin. Mickey’s skin heated with Ian’s touch and he hissed his breath in and out letting the waves roll through him. 

Ian brought his hand up his shoulder and dug his fingertips into his skin. Mickey looked down into Ian’s face, his eyes were closed and Mickey nudged his chin over with the tips of his fingers and lowered his lips down keeping his eyes on Ian’s. He kissed him gently and he felt Ian shudder, he lifted his lips and lowered his forehead to his and watched Ian’s eyes open. There was darkness there and a pain that hit him in the gut, he let out a breath and lowered his mouth over Ian’s slowly. He pulled Ian with him to his side and he felt Ian take control and roll over him. 

Ian held his waist and his mouth came down on his with a hot breath and he deepened the kiss, Ian’s hands were in his hair and he slid his mouth over his jaw and his open mouth closed over his neck and he pulled his neck with his teeth. Mickey’s eyes blurred and he lifted his head with a hiss his hands moved over Ian pushing his waist up, Ian pushed at him and Mickey dug his fingers in his skin as Ian’s open mouth moved over his chest. Mickey’s fingers gripped into his hair and he arched biting his lip. Ian moved his hands roughly over him as his lowered his head down over his chest. He took Mickey’s hard cock in his mouth and Mickey’s mouth widened at the heat that blazed through him. Ian lifted his head and braced over him sliding his arm under his side, flipping him on his stomach. 

Ian’s hand moved over his back and he bit his lip feeling Ian’s tongue slide up his spine. He felt Ian’s hand on his hip and braced under him, he pushed into him with a steady thrust and gasped in pleasure. Ian’s hand found his and he moved hard and steady into him, he felt Ian tighten his fingers on his and he hissed as Ian’s hand came around his hip to close over his cock, he felt his grip and came long and hard under him wincing and gasping. Ian pushed into him hard and Mickey felt him come tightening his grip on his. Ian braced on his arms over him and Mickey turned around under him bringing his hand up over his side and bit his lip looking up at his face, his head was bent and he was breathing heavily. 

Mickey raised a hand to his neck and up through his hair and Ian raised his head into his hand. Ian lowered onto his upper arms and Ian’s skin came down to his. He watched Ian’s eyes open and he smiled up at him and lifted his lips to his opening them and Ian’s lips moved softly over his. He ran his hand through his hair and lowered Ian’s head to his shoulder. He felt Ian’s lips on his skin and felt Ian sigh against him. 

Ian shifted over and was laying half on him and half on the bed. Mickey ran his fingers over his hair and watched his face relax and felt his breathing get steadier, he knew something had really shaken him up. Ian had seen a lot and been through a lot and for something to get him to enough to come home and break down like that it had to be really bad. Mickey held his wrist tight into his chest and stroked his thumb over his skin. He felt Ian’s steady heartbeat against his chest and brought his wrist up to his mouth and kissed it before closing his eyes and bringing Ian’s’ hand back over his heart. 

 

Mickey woke up and hit the alarm quickly keeping with his eyes closed, he brought his arm back under Ian’s and pushed his face back into the pillow. His half asleep brain nudged at him to get up but his body was arguing with it. He rolled his eyes in his head and opened them into slits, he closed them and rubbed his hand over Ian’s arm. 

‘Ian, warm, bed.’ He thought. 

‘Work, house, bills.’ He thought and grunted. 

He turned his face into the warm pillow one last time and blinked his eyes open. The room was dark but it was morning, they had put up dark blinds for when Ian worked night shift. Mickey sat up and moved Ian’s arm back behind him carefully, he looked back at him and thought about him coming home a fucking mess last night. He had come home angry before, sad and upset but the deep hurt that was in him last night had never happened. 

He stood up and quietly walked through the door and across the hall into the bathroom. He closed the door quietly, flipped on the light and turned on the shower, he stepped in and braced on the side of the brand new shower wall they had put in. He lifted his head through the water and Ian’s eyes came back to him, he could remember three times he had seen that look and those were the worst memories he had. 

He knew Ian could take care of himself but he worried about him being on the streets at night. He pushed the shampoo through his hair and rinsed it pushed his hands roughly over his hair. They had been together since they were kids and there was nothing about Ian he didn’t know, he knew his moods and everything in his eyes. His heart had torn apart seeing Ian like that. He took a long deep breath and tried to push down the rage that rose in him at whatever had made Ian feel that way. 

He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the shelf he had installed last weekend and dried his face breathing in long breaths trying to forget Ian’s broken eyes. 

He moved quietly into their bedroom and saw the bed was empty, he looked at the clock, 7:02. He dried himself quickly and tried to calm himself down as he dressed in jeans and long sleeved thermal shirt. He slid off his wedding ring and put it the box he kept it in during the day and turned into the hallway rubbing the tattoo of his wedding ring with his other hand. Ian was in his shorts and a t-shirt on the phone, he was pushing his thumb over his lip and looked up when he walked into the kitchen, he dropped his hand and leaned against the counter. 

Mickey picked up a mug from the counter and poured the coffee in listening to Ian’s side of the conversation. 

“How long will he be there?” 

“OK. Can you let me know please?”

“Alright, thanks Chisty.” He said and ended the call. 

“Morning.” Ian said as he came up beside him with his phone in his hand and rubbed his hand over his back, Mickey turned his head and smiled when Ian smacked a kiss on his cheek, he turned around with the cup in his hand and shoved his free hand in his pocket. Ian had his arms crossed and was looking across the room with a scowl on his face, he brought the phone back up and looked at it twisting his mouth.

Mickey leaned against the counter and brought the coffee up to his lips watching Ian over the rim of the mug. He was pale and his eyes looked tired but he wasn’t upset, he had a determined look in his eyes. He was focused on something and Mickey knew the storm, whatever it was had passed. 

Ian reached out one long arm and took Mickey’s mug still looking at his phone, Mickey let go of it with a scowl and pushed himself off the counter to turn around for another mug.

“You’re not going back to bed?” Mickey said turning another cup around.

“Hm, ya in a while.” Ian said distracted. 

Mickey’s eyes narrowed and he poured another cup of coffee, he turned back around and grabbed a smoke from the pack on the counter, he lit it with his eyes on Ian. 

Ian swung his arm back and set the phone down on the edge of the counter, his arm came back and crossed into the other one. Ian’s eyes came up to his and he saw that they were clear but there was shadow behind his eyes. 

Mickey waited.

Ian held out his hand and Mickey turned the smoke out to him, Ian took a long drag and let it out slowly.

“There was a kid.” Ian said with his eyes on the cigarette. 

“Beaten half to death.” Ian said and he brought his jaw and his eyes went dark with the memory.

Mickey’s heart kicked in his chest, Ian had a sweet soul and a soft heart but he also had a steel spine and Mickey knew something about the kid had hit him straight in the gut. 

“The guy, his father I don’t know had beaten him bloody. He hid in a closet….” Ian said and took in a long breath. Mickey lowered his coffee mug to the counter and brought his hand out to his arm. Ian closed his eyes at his touch and took a breath in opening his eyes, Mickey saw them fill with tears and his heart ached for him. 

“There was nothing there, like nothing. It was a hole.”

Mickey heard the term and knew he didn’t mean a ‘shit hole’ he meant it was a drug hole, a place for junkies to get high.

“Someone brought a kid to a hole?” Mickey said and held his hand out for the smoke, Ian held it out and his eyes came to his. Ian’s sad eyes stared into him as he nodded. 

“The woman was screaming that it was his fault.” Ian said with a shake of his head and brought a hand up over his eyes. Mickey rubbed his hand up and down over Ian’s arm, he took Ian’s forgotten coffee out of his hand and put it next to his on the counter. Mickey brought his hand down to his and felt Ian’s fingers grip tightly around his. 

“She called him a little faggot.” Ian said quickly and Mickey felt the rage in his rise up immediately. He sucked a breath through his teeth and tilted his head bringing up the smoke and sucked in the nicotine. He tightened his fingers on Ian’s and he worked his jaw around and felt his teeth grind together. 

“He was so small.” Ian said and dropped his hand, Mickey saw the tears in his eye and dropped the smoke in the sink behind him, he brought his arm around Ian and pulled him in. Ian’s head landed on his shoulder and he stroked his hand over his back and up to his neck, he held it firmly and turned his face into his neck and kissed him. He closed his eyes and felt Ian’s hand open and close over his back clenching his fist. He squeezed Ian’s hand and felt Ian squeeze his back and lifted it over his waist to pull him in tighter. 

Mickey felt Ian calm in his arms and Ian pulled his head back, Mickey lifted his hand to his face and saw Ian’s eyes had cleared a little. Ian smiled and Mickey wrapped his hand around to his hair and scratched his fingers over his scalp. Ian smiled wider and Mickey smiled at him and brought his head down, he kissed him sweetly and felt Ian’s tension ease away. 

Ian lowered his forehead to his and sighed. Mickey watched his eyes close and brought his head back to his shoulder, they stood there together just breathing until Ian said, 

“Mm, you have to go.” 

“Nah.” Mickey said quickly and held Ian tighter. He heard Ian laugh against his shoulder.

Ian lifted his head and brought his hand up to his shoulder. Mickey saw the bright smile and his heart settled in his chest.

“You have to go blow shit up.” Ian said. 

“I’d much rather stay here and blow you.” Mickey said with a quick smile. Ian giggled and Mickey smiled wider. 

Ian pulled him in for a quick hard hug and stepped back, he was still smiling as he turned to his phone and picked it up. Mickey found his coffee on the counter and pulled out another smoke. 

A thought came into his mind and he pushed it away. 

“How old is he?” He heard himself say and took a long drag. 

“I don’t know, 12 maybe.” Ian said. “He was skinny, malnourished skinny.” 

Mickey felt disgust rise up in his gut, his parents or whoever the fuck they were hadn’t fed the kid? 

‘Fuck.’ He thought and let out a long smoke filled hiss. 

The thought came again and he thought about Ian’s face when he had talked about the kid. 

Mickey turned his hand over and looked down at it, he still had scars on his knuckles from beating his father the night he had come out. He clenched his fist and focused on the tattoo of his wedding ring 

“Westford.” He said.

“Hm?” Ian said distracted by his phone. 

“Westford can get the kid.” Mickey said. 

Ian turned to him and he saw it clearly in his eyes, Ian wanted to bring the kid home. 

“And bring him where?” Ian asked in a low voice. 

“Here.” Mickey said held out the smoke, Ian kept his eyes on his and took the cigarette. 

Ian dropped his gaze to his chest and took a drag. Mickey watched all the emotions on Ian’s face, he knew Ian had been thinking about bringing the kid home but hadn’t worked it all out in his head yet. 

Ian’s eyes came back to his. 

“Hm.” Ian said taking a drag and held it out. Mickey took it and waited for Ian to say what he already knew. 

“We do have the extra room.” Ian said and shifted his leg. 

“Ya.” Mickey said nodding and he saw Ian’s eyes light up. 

“He’s getting out of the hospital tomorrow.” Ian said and crossed his arms as he looked down at the floor. “He could have family.” Ian’s eyes flickered with worry. 

“Sutter could find them, check em’ out.” Mickey said and he saw the worry fade from Ian’s eyes, they both had trusted Sutter with their lives for two years. They could trust him with making sure the kid went somewhere safe. 

“Ya.” Ian said. “He’d do it.” Ian nodded firmly. 

Sutter was a by the book type but he would bend the rules for something important. 

‘That’ll take time and until then he can crash here.” Mickey said and shrugged blowing out the last drag crushing out the smoke. 

“We don’t have a bed in there yet.” Ian said. 

Mickey bit his lip smiling, ‘Man I’m fuckin’ crazy about him.’ He thought. His obsessive sweet brain was already working out what was best for a kid he didn’t even know. 

“There’s the couch.” Mickey said and Ian twisted his mouth up.

“Hm” Ian said and tilted his head to the side. 

“I’ll call Westford, you get the kid.” He said quietly and rubbed Ian’s arm as he stepped over to him and Ian brought his arm around his waist and pulled him in. Mickey felt him relax and closed his eyes, Ian held him tightly and he let out a long breath. 

“Hey what’s the use in having a genie around if you can’t use him?” He said and Ian giggled. 

Westford was the genie, he could do anything. He had been their lawyer and become a part of their weird little family over time. He had first made sure Ian didn’t go to prison after traveling with him to Mexico and then had made the deal of all fucking deals with the Feds to get Mickey out of going back to prison. They had a new life and they were together because of Westford. 

“I love you.” Ian said and gave him a tight squeeze and pulled his head back to look at him. 

Mickey squeezed his hand. “I love you too. “ He said and started through the kitchen and Ian followed him. 

Mickey grabbed his boots and sat on the couch shoving his feet into them and saw Ian get his coat and turn toward the couch, he stood up and they met halfway through the living room.

“Get some sleep huh.” He said and shrugged on his coat. 

“You’re sure?” Ian asked. 

Mickey saw the worry and doubts in his eyes and it was for him, the kid being here could bring back bad memories. Mickey had dealt with them and put them away but the memory of his father over him with hate and disgust in his eyes had flashed through his mind when Ian had said they had called the kid ‘faggot.’ It didn’t feel like it did before, now it was just a memory and he had only felt sympathy for the kid because he had been where the kid was now. 

“Ya man.” He said with a smile. 

Ian squeezed his arm and pulled Ian’s face in for a quick kiss and headed for the door, he opened it and the cold rushed in.

“Fucking A.” he said with a huff. 

He looked back as he brought the door closed and saw Ian walking down the hall toward the bedroom. 

‘Good.’ He thought and walked quickly to his truck. He thought about Ian in their warm bed and wistfully imagined going back into the house and curling up next to Ian all naked and sleepy. He yanked open the door with a scowl and hopped into his cold truck.

Not being a criminal anymore was a motherfucking cocksucking bitch. 

 

Phillip Westford took a long drink of his excellent special brew coffee and heard the buzz of his cell phone. He picked it up from his desk and brought his mug down, he saw Mick across the screen and his eyebrows went up in surprise as he hit accept call. 

“Well good morning sunshine!” He said and heard Mickey scoff out a laugh.

“Ya, morning.” Mickey said with a hard tone.

“How’s things?” He said casually and sat back in his swivel chair, he loved screwing with Mickey and he could almost see his face twist up and glare on the other end of the phone.

“THINGS are fucking fine.” Mickey said and Phillip smiled and laughed lightly. 

“Everything alright?” He asked changing his tone, he knew Mickey wasn’t calling to say hello.

“Ya man listen, there’s this kid that was brought to the ER last night.” Mickey said and Phillip sat forward and his smiled dropped from his face.

“A Gallagher?” He asked with concern, they had become close over the past five years and Phillip considered them all a part of his and David’s extended family. 

“Nah.” Phillip waited as Mickey paused. “Ian got called to a bad scene and the kid was fucked up pretty bad.”

“Hm.” Philip murmured. It happened in South Side. 

“Can you get the kid?” Mickey asked.

“Get him?” Phillip asked.

“Ya, get him away from the scum bags who almost fucking killed him.” Mickey said with venom dripping from his voice.

Phillip heard the tone and had about a hundred questions but put them aside.

“Where is he?” He asked. 

 

He woke up in the hospital bed and thought,

‘Still here.’

He opened his eyes as much as he could and knew he was on some sort of narcotic because the pain should be worse. He heard muffled footsteps and closed his eyes, the steps got closer and clearer and they came to his left, he heard a click and knew she was pushing more drugs into the IV. His heartbeat beat faster in his chest and the his stomach fluttered in panic, everything in his life for as long as he could remember was centered on drugs and he hated them. 

He was too weak to lift his hand and stop her and he couldn’t see well enough to focus on her hand anyway, his glasses that he once had were long gone and his eyes had only gotten worse since then. He didn’t care though, it only meant he didn’t have to see with clarity when his mother was high and what she did while she was high. He heard the footsteps move away and felt the drugs wash over him, he pushed against them but they fuzzed his brain and he gave up trying to fight them. 

He let himself float for the moment and the musical notes drifted into him. His split lips turned up a little listening to the soft opening notes of his favorite Tchaikovsky symphony that played from memory in his mind. He felt the music flow through him and saw the notes as it played. He lifted his hand up and didn’t feel the sting of pain that broke through the drugs, he held his other hand lightly in the air closed over itself and held an imaginary bow as the violin solo started, he brought his hand closer to his arm and played the imaginary violin as they music played. He smiled a littler wider as the tempo picked up and he felt the only happiness and safety he had ever known. 

 

He woke up slowly and opened his eyes a fraction, it was dim in the room and he tried to remember how long he had been here, two days? They had kept pushing drugs into him and he wasn’t sure. When he had first woken up he had panicked and forced himself to calm down but when he had heard the muffled beeps and shuffles of feet he had felt the panic rise up in him. 

‘I can’t hear!?’ He thought and tried to focus on the noises around him. Voices were muffled and his eyes had filled with tears. 

When the doctor had tried to talk to him he had pretended to be asleep, but he had listened intently to her voice. He could hear her but not with the usual clarity.

‘Broken ear drum.’ He knew and took a deep long breath when the doctor walked away. That would heal but he felt the worry in his heart that his ear wouldn’t be the same when it did. 

He had been in shock when he had come in but he was out of immediate danger now and they were going to kick him out soon. He thought vaguely about where he was going to go and tried to remember if he had clothes.

He head was fuzzy and he realized he was still being drugged, he reached with one arm across his chest and pulled out the IV, he felt a little sting of pain and he put pressure on his arm where the needle had been. He slipped it under the covers with his arm hiding the needle he didn’t want them hooking him back up.

‘Enough.’ He thought letting his eyes close. He needed to think and he hated how he wanted to sink into the drug and never come out. 

He felt the pain come back but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. The memories came with the pain as the drugs wore off and the edges of the pain and memory were no longer dulled. The man they had followed to Chicago was worse than the others before and he came around time and again.

He was his father. 

He found them over and over or his mother would get lonely and sentimental and forget he was a violent disgusting man who would pimp her out for drug money as soon as he knew he had his hooks in her again. He should have left this time but he had hesitated because of his mother, leaving her with him was a death sentence. She got so deep into drugs with him and they did more and more of them until they exploded.

He was the outlet for their mutual drug filled rage. 

He had found an empty apartment on a side street and went there when things got bad at the place they were staying. The hospital would probably make him leave today and the empty apartment was where he was going to go. He had no clothes with him and thought about asking a nurse if there was a lost and found in the hospital so he could have something to put on but decided against it, he didn’t like talking to people and only spoke when necessary. 

He heard quiet footsteps and he felt a little relief, he could hear a little better than he could yesterday. He kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.

There were two of them, one moved quickly with purpose and the other was hesitant and quiet. 

“Hm.” He heard and tensed. It was a deep male voice and he didn’t trust it.

He heard something land on the chair by the window and heard the quiet one take a step, he tensed again and he stopped coming toward him. 

“You pulled your IV.” He heard and he recognized the voice immediately. It was the voice he had heard far away at some point in the past few days, he had felt safe and had drifted away peacefully after he had heard it. He didn’t open his eyes and he heard a soft laugh come from the one he recognized. 

“You’re not foolin’ us kid.” He heard from the other voice, he heard a smile in his voice and he trusted it a little more. 

He heard something hard go down on a table and he heard two sharp clicks. 

His eyes flew open.

“Aha, there you are.” He heard and looked toward the deeper voice. 

He was a dark fuzzy blob. 

He shifted his eyes to the other blob and tried to focus his eyes a little more. He saw gray and blue and orange at the top of him.

‘He’s on fire?’ He thought with a little panic. He cleared his head and realized he was a red head, there must still be some drugs floating around in him. 

“Sorry to take you away from your restful fake sleep but we’d like to discuss some things with you if you have a moment.” The dark fuzzy one said. It was sarcastic and a little funny considering he was in a hospital bed with nowhere to go and no clothes to wear even if he did. 

Dark fuzzy moved closer and he tensed, the one on fire moved and the dark fuzzy stopped.

“My name is Phillip Westford.” He said in a low kind voice. “This is Ian.” 

“Hi” Ian said in a clear bright tone. 

He turned his eyes to Ian and tried to focus, Ian was tall and defiantly a red head but saw only color.

“Ian was the one who found you the other night.” Phillip said in a low careful voice, he heard him take in a breath and continue. “I’ve called around on your behalf and there’s nothing about you anywhere.” He said. 

He was surprised anyone would do that, why did he care enough to call anyone for him? 

“You haven’t told anyone your name.” Ian said quietly. He turned his head away from him and let his eyes blur. 

He heard Ian take in a short breath and let it out.

“OK.” Ian said. “We don’t need to know your name.” He focused his eyes again when he heard the sincerity in his voice. 

“I don’t know if you remember me but we’re not social services or cops.” Ian said and he heard the beginning of a laugh. “Well he is a lawyer but he’s not a total dick.” 

“HA, fuck you. Now, we’d like to help…” Phillip said and he felt his heart lift a little, he had said ‘fuck you’ like he was saying pass the salt and had just continued speaking.

‘…and stay with them for a while.” He heard the words and felt a little shock at the kindness they were offering. He turned it over in his head, stay with strangers? He had pretended to be asleep when the social worker had come and she had tsked over him, he had heard the disgust and weariness in her tone. 

There was no deception or judgment in Ian’s voice when he spoke. Phillip was being truthful and there was a no nonsense edge to his voice. 

“I’m married and we have an extra bedroom, it doesn’t have a bed yet but we have a couch and it’s yours if you want it.” Ian said. 

He heard the voice that had comforted him and realized he had probably saved his life. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious and he was bleeding badly, his mother wouldn’t have come to find him and he could have bled to death in there and that would have been fine with him. He had crawled into the closet with the blankets and had wanted it all to end, he wanted his heart to stop and his lungs to stop taking breath. He had been panicked when he had woken up because he was alive and knew the pain wasn’t over. 

He shifted his blurry eyes between them and felt the last spark of hope in him come awake.

“Luke.” He said quietly and heard them both let out the breath they had been holding. 

 

Luke sat up slowly on the edge of the bed and felt the pain shoot through him, he heard Ian take in a sharp breath but he didn’t make a move toward him. He saw Ian move away and he lifted something off of the chair, he shifted toward the bed and lowered something on the end of the bed. 

“There’s some clothes in here.” Ian said carefully, he saw Ian move toward Phillip and heard him grunt with a question in his tone. They were one big blur but he saw motion and heard an “Oh.” as they walked toward the door and it closed behind them. 

He got to his feet and steadied himself, he forced himself to take two steps without holding onto the bed and felt over the bag and opened it. He brought out what felt like sweatshirt material and he smiled, sweatshirts were warm. He put the sweatshirt on the bag and reached in and felt the same material, sweatpants. He felt plastic packaging and he pulled it out, they had bought him something?

He pushed down the spark of happiness at having something new and clean on him, they could be anybody and he had been on the bad end of people giving him things enough to not trust a gift no matter how nice the thought was.

He opened the packages and felt they were socks and shorts, he pulled off the hospital johnnie and took off his tattered old shorts, he folded them carefully and put them on the bed. He dressed and felt the warmth spread over him, it felt so good not to be cold that a shock of goosebumps rolled over him as he lowered the big sweatshirt down over his bruised chest. The pants were too big and bunched around his ankles but that only made his legs warmer.

He carefully put one each sock and wiggled his toes, they were so thick they were like pillows under his feet and felt his lips turn up into a smile. He reached in the bag and he felt around what felt like vinyl with his hand, sneakers. He sat down and brought a foot up over his knee, he held his breath against the pain as his body twisted. He took a deep breath and switched feet, putting the other sneaker on and tying it quickly. 

He let the dizziness pass and stood up turning into the bed, he reached a hand down for his shorts and stopped himself. 

They were all he had in the world, a dirty blood covered pair of shorts. 

He let his hand fall on them for a second and brought his hand away, he lifted the bag the clothes had been in and felt there was more in there. He brought out something big, it was a heavy winter coat and he threw it down on the bed. 

‘Too much.’ He thought and took a step back. 

‘Clothes and a winter coat, they want something.’ He thought as he stepped back away from it, he felt panicked and dizzy and let his eyes blur with the pain. He heard the door open and he held his breath.

“Hey man, come on.” It was Ian, he heard the sweet tone of his voice and the sincerity in the way he said ‘come on.’ He felt his lungs take in air and felt the panic ease.

 

He followed the red hair and the black blur through the hallway, they moved slowly and he knew it was for his sake. Ian fell into step beside him and he felt the hood on the oversized coat come up over his head and was too surprised to flinch away. Ian stayed beside him as they walked past the nurses station and he felt him move behind him as they waited for the elevator, he took a step to the left and Ian took a step behind him in the same direction.

Before he could turn around the elevator dinged and they both waited for him to walk into the elevator. He made a quick decision and stepped into it keeping his body turned toward the back wall, he heard Ian hit the button and the elevator doors close behind him. 

He turned around slowly and kept his eyes level on the doors.

“Smart kid.” Phillip said. He glanced up at his blurry face, he saw the white of a smile and looked back at the door.

“Don’t worry.” Ian said. “We have him and a Fed on our side.” 

“And a cop.” Phillip chimed in.

“Uh huh, my brother.” Ian said. 

He heard the tones that came from them. 

“So you’re legally kidnapping me.” Luke said quietly. He heard them both let out a shocked laugh and they continued laughing in spurts until the elevator reached the lobby. 

 

Luke felt the cold but stayed nice and toasty in his sweats and big winter coat, the hood came down over his eyes but they were pretty useless anyway and left it there. The Chicago wind whipped around them and pushed at him, he felt like he would blow away it was so strong.

He heard a car pull up and a door open, he lifted his head enough to see the opening and headed toward it, he felt the soft upholstery and his heart twisted.

Money. 

He knew that was never a good thing but he pushed himself all the way into the far corner and felt the seat shift and moved his head forward enough to see Ian’s blur beside him. He heard a door in front of him close and saw the Phillip blur in the front seat. 

He kept his terrible eyes and good ear open to what they were doing as the car started to move, they were not moving or talking at all and he felt the tension in him start to rise. The seconds ticked by in his head and he took quick breathes as his heart raced, he pushed back the hood and turned his head toward Ian. 

He saw Ian’s blurry face turn toward him.

“It’s Westford’s car.” Ian said like he had read his mind. 

“It’s the firms!” Phillip said from the front seat correcting Ian with a hard tone.

“Ya, OK?!” Ian said with a laugh in his voice. “Who owns the FIRM?” Ian said with sarcasm.

Phillip grunted from the front seat.

“He’s South Side but had oodles of money and wants to stay street.” Ian said in a low voice.

“I heard that.” Phillip said.

“I know!” Ian said with a laugh. Luke felt the tension ease with their funny exchanges and focused on the warmth of the car, he was almost hot and it felt amazing. 

“We have a little house on the South Side.” Ian said. “It’s not much but its home.” He said and Luke heard the pride and love in his voice.

“Mickey havin’ fun smashin’ it up?” He heard from the front seat, he heard the twang of a Chicago accent that he hadn’t heard before and either he was very good at hiding it or his ear was worse than he thought. 

“Ya!” Ian said. He heard a low laugh from Phillip.

“We’re redoing the house so it’s kind of a mess.” Ian said. Luke didn’t care if it was a mess or not, he had decided to go with them but he hadn’t decided on anything after that but he had learned a long time ago to trust his ears. His ears told him Ian was honest and kind and Phillip was sneaky but alright. 

‘So far.’ He thought.

‘Who was Mickey?’ He wondered. ‘Wife? Kind of an odd name. ‘ He thought to himself but didn’t give anything away on his face. 

“Can I ask you a couple questions?” Ian asked with a nervous breath. 

Luke trusted his ears again and nodded his head down once.

“Are you from Chicago?” He asked. 

Luke shook his head. 

“Do you have any family outside of Chicago?” he asked avoiding saying the word ‘Father’ or mentioning the other night. 

Luke shook his head again, he felt a wave of dizziness and turned his away as his eyes started to close. 

“How old are you?” Ian asked. 

Luke wasn’t sure what month it was so it could be one of two ages but he didn’t want to say that. He opened his eyes and looked through the window. 

“13.” He said quietly. 

He heard Ian take in a long breath and knew why, he was small and didn’t look 13. He was either 13 or 14 depending on what month it was. The days had passed slowly after his mother had made him stop going to school. The teachers were noticing he was showing up without lunch or lunch money every day and when the bruises started in places he couldn’t cover that had been the end of that. 

He had been heartbroken, he loved school. He loved learning and soaked up anything he could like a sponge. He had lots of books at one time when thing were good with his mom but that had been over a year ago and he had had to leave them behind when they had been evicted. 

“Are you hungry?” Ian asked and Luke turned his head to him. 

He didn’t want to answer, food was currency and he didn’t know what the price was. 

“I am.” Phillip said with a happy tone. Ian laughed and he saw motion, he either nodded his head or shook it. 

“I made beef stew.” Ian said.

“Ya? Ooohh?” Phillip said “With the bread?”

“Yep.” Ian said.

“Kid you’re in for a treat, Ian can cook like a motherfucker.” Phillip said. 

He heard Ian scoff but heard the pride in the laugh that followed. 

“Mickey home?” Phillip asked.

“What time is it?” Ian asked.

“Almost six.” Phillip answered.

“Yeah, he’s home.” Ian said and Luke heard something he didn’t know in his voice and turned cocked his head to listen closer but Ian was silent. He thought about warm yummy beef stew, he felt pain in his stomach and his mouth watered. 

The car slowed down and stopped, he heard the front door open and slam and didn’t hear Ian move.

“Ready?” Ian asked quietly. 

Luke didn’t move. 

“OK, we’ll wait.” Ian said and sat with him silently. 

Luke felt his heart thaw and his gut roll. He looked over at Ian but he didn’t turn his head toward him, he focused his eyes past him toward a white blur of light. 

‘There’s heat and light in there.” He thought.

He took a deep breath. “Beef stew?” He asked quietly. 

Ian laughed under his breath and opened the door. Luke shifted over the seat and out the door flinching with the pain, he followed Ian and heard keys jangling.

“Did you try the door? Ian asked. 

“Are you crazy?” Phillip said. “Like I’m going to walk in there unannounced!” 

Ian laughed low in his throat and Luke wondered why he wouldn’t go in.

“True.” Ian said and he heard the door open. 

“Oh great, now you fucking show up!” He heard and froze, the voice was hard and mean. “After I drag a whole mattress set by my fucking self!” He saw Ian move away from him and Phillip stood where he was. 

Ian laughed a low wicked laugh and he heard a scoff.

“Hey.” Ian said and saw him move to another person who was dark blue and light blue with a black top. 

“Um hm.” He heard. “OK, you’re making that shit up to me.” He said and he heard his voice lower and he heard the same tone Ian had in his voice.

“Come on Luke.” Phillip said and moved into the house but he didn’t move.

Ian and the other person had blurred into one blob, they were orange, different color blues and black swirled together. They moved closer to him and he took a step back. 

“Hey.” He heard and Luke thought there must be someone else because that was not the same mean hard voice. He tried to focus to find the other person but there was no one else there. 

“Come on kid, its fuckin freezin’ out here.” He heard. 

There were about 8 tones in his voice and Luke heard every one of them, kindness, pain, sympathy, anger, impatience, tenderness and humor. There were a couple of tones he didn’t understand but he took two small steps. 

“Good” The voice said and he heard all the tones again, he had never heard one person say so much with one word. 

“Let’s eat.” Mickey said and Luke smiled for the first time since meeting them and stepped into the warm house.

 

Ian closed the bathroom door quietly and waited listening until he heard the shower start and moved away from the door. He turned into the kitchen and Westford and Mickey were both in the kitchen waiting for him. Mickey had a cigarette in his hand and was leaning against the counter rubbing his thumb over his lip.

“Wow.” Westford said quietly with his arms crossed, he paced and shook his head. 

Ian leaned his shoulder into the refrigerator, they had both been shocked by the sight of Luke’s bruised and swollen face and by how little he was, he had looked even smaller in the big coat and Ian’s sweats. Hearing about what had happened to Luke was one thing but seeing it was another. 

“Are you sure about this?” Westford asked quietly.

Ian didn’t answer him, he waited and watched Mickey. He smoked hard and squinted his eyes through the smoke and brought his head up and looked at the ceiling as he let the smoke out. Ian watched his eyes close for a beat and come to his.

Ian felt the rush of love and saw his eyes stare into him.

‘Are you?’ His eyes said.

‘Yes.’ He answered and Mickey’s eyes changed, he shifted away from the counter.

“The kid’s stayin,” He said and gave Westford a hard look.

“Alright.” Westford said and put his hands up. “It’s just…” He trailed off.

“He’s a mess, we know.” Ian said.

“It’s not just that we’re going to have to pull every string to keep him here.” Westford said.

“This isn’t like getting you out of prison that was a fucking cake compared to this.” He said and Mickey smiled his devilish smile at him. Ian lifted his eyebrows and shook his head.

Westford paced back and forth between them. 

“Kids are a whole different thing, there are judges and social workers that actually care!” Westford said like it was unheard off. “AND even if I can keep him here what about the scum bag mother? She has rights, not that she deserves them or anything BUT that’s a whole thing.” Westford brought his hand up to his face and stopped pacing. 

Ian and Mickey both fidgeted and glanced back and forth from Westford to each other. 

Westford sighed hugely.

“You’ll do it?” Mickey asked.

“Well YA! Don’t be an idiot.” Westford said and gave Mickey a stern look. Mickey brought his cigarette up to his lips and smiled back at Westford putting the cigarette in his teeth 

Ian pushed himself off the refrigerator as Westford rushed to the living room for his coat. 

“Ahhh, we have money saved up for the house for..” Ian started and saw Westford’s glare and Ian took a step back. 

“If you need it for anything.” He said slowly and carefully changing what he was going to say, he was offering to pay Westford for being Luke’s lawyer but the look had stopped him in his tracks. 

“Mm.” Westford murmured and Ian knew he wasn’t fooled by his back peddling. Ian swung his arms back and forth around him and smiled widely at him.

Westford smiled at him and put his on big coat. Mickey came up next to him with his arms crossed. 

“You’re not taking all of this on.” Mickey said with a turn of his head. 

“No, I’m not. You have the hard part taking care of that poor lost kid in there.” Westford said and nodded to the back of the house with his eyes dark. He shook his head and gave Ian a hard hug, Ian hugged him back and he stepped away straightening his coat but Ian knew he was lowering his eyes so they couldn’t see them and turned toward the door.

“Thanks man.” Mickey said and Westford did look up and gave Mickey a nod and opened the door enough for him to get through and closed it behind him. 

They turned toward the table and cleaned up the bowls and spoons from the kitchen table. Ian glanced at Mickey and saw he was lost in his own thoughts, he waited and brought what he had in his hands to the sink and Mickey came up behind him and put the bowls down next to him. He didn’t turn to him as he turned on the water and rinsed the dishes. 

He felt him move up behind him again and reach around him to put the last bowl down and his hand slid up his side. Ian relaxed his tense back and braced on the edge of the sink, Mickey’s strong arm came around his waist and his brought a wet hand under his arm. He felt Mickey’s mouth against his shoulder as he rested it there. 

“Good stew.” Mickey said muffled against his shoulder and Ian laughed, he felt Mickey sway him back and forth and hum against his shoulder. Ian rubbed his thumb over his arm and all the doubts he had drifted away, as long as he had Mickey he could do anything. 

 

Mickey was walking through the door of their bedroom when the bathroom door opened, he turned his head and watched it slowly open. Luke was standing in the bathroom, he had on the sweatshirt and sweatpants Ian had brought him and his hair was wet and pushed back from his face. Mickey had thought his hair was as dark as his but now he saw it was light brown, his heart broke and his temper rose at knowing the kid was covered in so much blood and grime his hair had looked black. He watched him reach up without looking and feel around the wall for the light switch and turned it off, Mickey turned around and cocked his head watching him. 

Luke stood there like he was waiting for something. 

“Feel better? “ He asked and Luke’s eyes widened and a shy smile turned up his ripped up lips.

“Yes, thank you.” Luke said smiling and stepped toward him. Mickey put his foot in front of him and Luke didn’t react, Mickey lifted an arm out and Luke stopped short. 

“Ian’s in there putting sheets on the bed.” He said and Luke relaxed. Mickey saw him tilt his head a fraction and turned to walk down the hall and he hesitated. 

“Go on man, he’s all excited about the shit I got.” He said and heard a little laugh come from his little body. He waited a beat and let Luke go a few steps and followed him, Luke stopped at the door and hesitated again.

“Hi.” Ian said to Luke as he stepped into the bedroom, he kept a few steps behind him and waited until he was further in the room and came around the corner. Luke had side stepped against the wall and was looking toward Ian. He watched Luke and he saw him take a little step back when Ian flipped the blanket up and let it fall to the bed, he saw his chest rise and fall with a big deep breath. 

“How good was that stew huh?” He said and Luke smiled and turned toward him nodding his head. 

Mickey had been shocked by his face but the bruises and cuts would heal what he saw behind the bruises was a very sad, very serious kid. He was skittish but hid it really well and that told Mickey he had lived with it long enough for protecting himself to become second nature and Mickey knew the kid had lived a very hard short life. 

But when Luke smiled his whole face changed and you could see the kid underneath and for some reason almost every time he spoke Luke’s eyes would widen and he’d smile. 

Mickey hadn’t noticed it at first until Ian had squeezed his hand under the table. 

“How was work?” Ian asked with his eyes on Luke. Mickey had been confused but turned his head and looked at Luke, he was eating steadily with his eyes down. 

“It was alright?!” He said and Luke’s eyes had widened and he saw his lips turn up at the ends. He felt Ian squeeze his hand again and he said,

“Draggin’ those mattresses by myself was a bitch though.” Luke had smiled a wider and Mickey sat back and looked at Ian. Ian’s eyes were soft on his and he turned back to his stew and watched the kid’s face change every time he spoke.

“Think you’re all set.” Ian said and dropped a pillow on the bed. “You shoulda got some colored ones with stuff on it.” Ian said 

He brought his hand up and scowled looking at Ian. 

“They’re fine, thank you.” Luke said. 

‘He’s polite, that’s for sure.’ Mickey thought. 

“Liam has Star Wars sheets.” Ian said. “You like Star Wars?” Ian asked Luke. 

Luke smiled the biggest smile Mickey had seen since he got there. 

“Yes, I like Star Wars.” Luke said. 

Ian smiled and said. “Me too, we’ll have to watch it.”

“Oh jeez.” Mickey said and rolled his eyes closed, he brought his head down to his hand. 

Ian laughed and Mickey felt his arm come around his shoulder.

“He doesn’t like it.” Ian said. Mickey opened his eyes and Ian was shaking his head sadly looking toward Luke. 

“Nah man, I do but do you have to watch it over and over….and over?” He finished and Ian nodded with his eyes narrowing. 

“Yes.” Ian said with a quick nod. 

“It’s a movie, it’s not gonna change.” He said seriously and Ian laughed again and squeezed his neck toward him. They smiled at each other and both turned to Luke, he had a serious look on his face and was concentrating really hard on something. 

“We’ll watch it.” Ian said again in a low voice and Luke nodded. 

Mickey tugged at Ian and he tensed trying to stay where he was.

“Night.” Mickey said and pulled away from Ian.

“Goodnight.” Luke said quietly and Mickey pulled Ian harder. 

Ian gave him a hard look and Mickey widened his eyes. He waved his arm out wide to Luke and closed the door leaving it open a crack. Ian shoved him and he twisted his face up motioning roughly with one arm and gripped his arm dragging him to their bedroom.

“What the fu..” Ian said and Mickey shoved him through the door and he stumbled back glaring at him. Mickey closed the door quickly and turned to him.

“What the hell was that about?” Ian said with his eyes wide and stepping forward.

“He can’t see shit.” He said quietly. 

“Huh?” Ian said and the anger fell from his face.

“He can’t fucking see.” Mickey said and crossed his arms. 

Ian’s arms came out and he swung around. “Oh my God.” He said. 

“Ya.” Mickey said and Ian swung back around to face him. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Oh ya.” Mickey said nodding his head. 

“Shit.” Ian said and sat on the edge of the bed. Mickey stepping toward Ian and stood between his knees, he rubbed his hands over Ian’s shoulders. 

“Man.” He said and brought his hand up to Mickeys arm. Mickey bit his lip and held his face looking down into his eyes. His heart was amazing and he saw every bit of strength Ian had in him, he had seen this kid and wanted to help him and as soon as Mickey had seen him he had understood why. 

Ian pushed himself back on the bed and closed his eyes. Mickey slid a leg on the bed and braced his arms around crawling over him until he was over Ian’s face, he tilted his head looking down at him until Ian’s eyes opened. 

“What kind of doctor does eyes?” He asked with his nose scrunched up.

Mickey bit his lip and shrugged, Ian’s eyes were serious and he twisted up his mouth. Mickey didn’t think he could love him more than he did yesterday but seeing him thinking so hard about Luke and his eyes made him fall even more.

Luke woke up slowly and felt his body ache all over. He opened his eyes and knew where he was and who he was with as soon as they opened and saw the light coming from a different direction from where he was before. He took long slow breathes trying to ease the ache in him but it didn’t help much he was going to have to deal with it. He listened and heard Mickey and Ian’s voices far away and thought they must be in the kitchen. 

They were very interesting he thought and went over everything from the night before. Kindness rang through Ian’s voice like a bell but here was strength under it.

Mickey voice was like a prism, he turned it in different ways as it changed with the mood Mickey was in. It was like hearing a symphony of tones every time he spoke. 

He thought about Mickey teasing Ian about Star Wars, he did have a point the movie wasn’t going to change, he thought and smiled. 

‘But it’s was the experience!’ he thought to himself and smiled wider. 

His lip stung and he remembered why he was here, he lowered his eyes from the light and tried to keep the smile on his face without it hurting by closing his lips together. He didn’t think he would sleep after they had left the room but he walked silently to the door and felt at the knob, he turned the lock and pulled the door to make sure it was secure and had slipped into the warm bed. He had smelled the clean sheets and felt the exhaustion he’d been fighting and had fallen asleep in minutes. He moved his body a little to test it out and felt the deep thud of pain but he knew he had to get up and move around or he’d get stiff. 

He forced himself up and brought his legs down the side of the bed and felt wave of light dizziness but it wasn’t as bad as last night. He rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles and felt a little less pain than yesterday. 

He stood up and was steady. 

He listened for Mickey and Ian as he walked toward the door, he heard Ian laugh and Mickey’s deep voice. He unlocked the door and mapped out in his head the floorplan of the house and turned right toward the kitchen. Their voices got louder as he moved and he stopped when he reached the opening to the kitchen. 

“Is it done?” Mickey asked. He saw Ian and he was a white and blue blur with a red top. He didn’t see Mickey

“Patience.” Ian said with a smile in his voice and Mickey scoffed and laughed inside it. He saw movement and Mickey moved across the kitchen, Mickey was black and gray today and a little orange in the middle. 

“Hey!” Mickey said his voice all smiles and light. 

“Morning.” Ian said with a bright tone. 

“Ian’s making omelets.” Mickey said. 

He had no idea what that was but it smelled like really good. He knew it was something with eggs and onions, he could smell them.

Mickey’s arm went out in a wide motion and he followed him to the table. He sat in the same chair he did last night and he heard liquid being poured into a glass, Mickey was across from him and he saw him shrink and he heard the glass hit the table harder than it should have. 

He saw Mickey move away and reached out for the glass, he missed it on purpose and he saw Mickey stop moving. 

They knew he couldn’t see. 

He brought his hand to the glass and picked it up, he smelled it and it was orange juice. He took a long drink, he hadn’t had orange juice in a long time and it was his favorite. He lowered the cup and licked his lips, he put it down but wanted to drink the rest of it. 

He saw Ian coming over with Mickey close behind him and they sat across from him, Ian put a plate in front of him.

“Thank you.” He said.

“Man you’re polite.” Mickey said.

“Man you swear a lot.” He said in a dry tone and Ian and Mickey both exploded with laughter. 

He tucked his head down, he hadn’t meant to say that but it had popped out of his mouth.

“Nice.” Ian said still laughing. 

Luke picked up his fork that was beside the plate and felt the napkin under it. 

They slowly stopped laughing and Luke saw yellow and red when he focused his eyes, he pushed the fork over the plate and felt smooshy pieces of omelet that were cut up, they defiantly knew. He picked up a piece and brought it to his mouth and tasted eggs and onions and tomatoes and all kinds of flavors he had never tasted before. 

“Huuh?” Mickey said. 

“Mm.” he murmured by way of an answer and shoved more into his mouth. 

“So good.” Mickey said with a full mouth and for once he didn’t focus on his voice, he was having a religious experience just him and the omelet. 

He ate and rolled his eyes closed, he swallowed and brought more to his mouth. 

“I think he likes it.” He heard from Ian. 

When the food was gone he drank the rest of the orange juice and wiped his mouth with a napkin carefully.

“That was very good.” He said. 

“Good, I’m glad you like it.” Ian said as he stood up, Mickey was still eating and he looked toward him and tried to focus but it was a lost cause and let his eyes blur. 

“We have some errands to run, want to come?” Ian said and Luke heard the casual outside of the question but inside it there was a ring of nervousness. 

“OK.” He said.

“Paper… I need a list.” Ian said.

“What for?” Mickey said and there was suspicion in his voice. 

“Shopping.” Ian said brightly.

Mickey grunted and Luke heard about ten tones of unhappiness in one grunt. 

 

They got into a small car and Ian drove, Luke had the big coat on again and he heard Ian turn on the heat in the car full blast. 

“Fuck.” Mickey said as he slammed the door hard. “BBRRrrrgawd.” Mickey grunted and Luke didn’t know what that tone was and he laughed to himself. 

The radio was on and Luke heard the poppy music and turned his head. He loved all music but pop was his least favorite, there was no soul in it most of the time. 

He heard the music change to hard rock.

“Hey!” Ian said. “My car.”

“If you’re dragging me shopping at least can we listen to some decent fucking music please!” He said and Luke heard the desperate tone and heard himself giggle. He whipped his head around and put a hand over his mouth. He focused his eyes on Mickey in the passenger seat and he didn’t make any movement. 

“What’d you think kid?” Mickey said in a conspirator tone. “The bouncy crap he likes or this?” he said with gusto and his dark blob became skin tone, he had turned to him. 

Luke shrugged and took his hand away from his mouth.

“Come oooon.” Mickey said

He nodded and Mickey let out a “HA!”. Ian grumbled in the front seat. 

Mickey laughed and turned up the music, it was clashing and hard and Luke felt himself get inside the music, he could hear and feel every note and his head moved back and forth with it. He felt the bass and the depression of the long guitar notes. He heard the lyrics and they meshed with the tone of the guitar. His foot came up and he kicked it to the beat of the drums, he felt the song coming to an end and went still and heard the last notes of the guitar trail off and he climbed out of the song as it ended. 

“You like music?” Ian said and he knew when he heard something he liked he went somewhere else and Ian must have seen him.

“Yes.” He said.

“Oh ya?” Mickey said “What kind?” He said and he heard the scrap of a lighter and heard the window open beside Mickey.

“Everything.” He said.

 

Ian saw Luke’s face light up when he said everything and he believed him, he had glanced back and had seen him move to the hard song on the radio and felt him kick at the back of his seat in time to the drums. Mickey handed him the cigarette as he stopped for a red light, he took a drag and opened the window.

“Maybe they shouldn’t be smoking around him.’ He thought and threw it out the window. 

Mickey turned to him bring a hand up and scowled, Ian tilted his head and eyes toward Luke. Mickey’s face slowly fell into one of disbelief with his eyes wide and his mouth open. 

‘Oh ya.’ He thought and remembered he had been in a hole with junkies, smoking probably wasn’t going to bother him. Mickey shook his head and smiled reaching out his hand to his arm and chuckled, Ian rolled his eyes at himself and the light turned green. 

 

They bought tons of shit, Ian looked like he was stocking up for the zombie apocalypse. Mickey and Luke trailed behind him as he went down every aisle, he threw in about 20 boxes of cereal in the cart and grabbed the big cartons of milk and three different kinds of juice. Ian spent about an hour in the produce section picking and choosing vegetables, if they didn’t look right he’d shake his head and put it back. Mickey stood with Luke and watched his head shake or his face scrunch up as they moved at a snails pace. Ian pushed the cart finally away from the vegetables.

‘Thank Christ!’ Mickey thought.

Ian stopped and Mickey saw the fruit section and sighed heavily with a hand pushing over his eyebrow. 

He heard Luke laugh quietly. 

He looked down at Luke, he was looking in Ian’s general direction but he knew he couldn’t see the faces he was making, he had laughed at his sigh. 

Mickey smiled and bit his lip, the kid didn’t like shopping any more than he did. 

 

They stuffed all the bags in the little trunk as the snow came down fast, it had been snowing steadily since they left the house. Mickey pulled the door closed and lit another smoke, he glared at Ian as he lit it. Ian looked away and out the window and he sat back taking a long drag. They were going to the eye doctor next and hadn’t told Luke yet. 

He saw Ian’s hand and passed him the smoke, Ian smacked his hand with the back of his.

His looked at Ian, he was widening his eyes and darting them toward Luke. Mickey rolled his eyes and scowled and Ian just looked at him with steady eyes. Mickey put his hands up and crossed his arms turning away. 

He was telling Luke they were going to the eye doctor and he no fucking clue when that discussion had been,

OH ya that’s right there fucking wasn’t one. 

Ian was being a pussy.

He glared at Ian and he ignored him, driving calmly. 

“Mm Hm.” He murmured and Ian held his hand out for the smoke and Mickey sputtered and took a drag turning away. They were almost there, he needed to think of something quick. 

“Hey kid.” He said. “We’re taking you to an eye doctor.” He said and didn’t turn around. 

He looked over at Ian and he was looking in the rearview mirror. Ian shook his head and Mickey turned, Luke wasn’t moving and didn’t look at him.

“Luke.” Mickey said.

“Yes.” He answered. 

“Did you hear me?” 

“Yes.” He said. 

“Huh, OK.” Mickey said.

Mickey was pretty happy with that. They drove listening to the radio and stopped at a red light, he dropped the smoke out the window. 

“Ahhh Mick.” Ian said. 

“Ya.’ He said glancing over. 

Ian turned his head around toward the backseat and Mickey eyes followed his, Luke was gone.

“Holy shit.” Ian said as he said. “What the…”

Mickey saw Luke through the back window walking across the street, he was almost at the sidewalk. Mickey turned his head and twisted his face up.

“How the fuck did he get out of the car?” He said and Ian whipped his head around trying to find a place to park the car. 

“Shit.” Ian said and Mickey shoved open the door and started running, he looked and saw a car coming but he could make it and bolted across the street with his eyes on Luke’s back. The driver hit the brakes and he saw Luke start running. 

Mickey smiled “I got ya now.” He said out loud. Luke ran behind a building into an ally, Mickey stepped off of the slushy street and onto the clean snow and ran around in the other direction. He ran as fast he could around the front of the building in the snow and slowed down as he came to the back of the building. He walked to the end of the building and leaned against the wall and looked around the building enough to see Luke was walking quickly toward him. 

“Where ya goin?” He said when Luke was in front of him.

Luke froze. 

“That was a pretty cool trick.” He said casually. 

“It’s not a trick.” Luke said. 

Mickey smiled, the kid had some spine.

He saw Luke turn his head to the left, he looked where he was looking and Ian came running around the other corner of the building. 

“Damn kid that far away?” He said. 

Luke didn’t move, Mickey watched him and waited for Ian. 

Ian came running up to them and Mickey smiled at Ian. 

“Kid’s got a freakin’ superpower.” He said. 

Ian panted and tilted his head at him with confused eyes, Mickey nodded and they both looked at Luke. 

“Ya?” Ian said. 

“It’s not really a superpower.” Luke said and tilted his head down.

“Fuck ya it is.” He said. 

“What?” Ian asked smiling. 

Luke rolled his eyes and Mickey had to bite his lip not to laugh. He looked like he should look, a kid who was embarrassed but proud of something he could do. 

“He has super hearing.” He said. 

“Ya?” Ian said.

“Yup.” He said nodding. 

“No.” Luke said but smiled. 

Mickey and Ian laughed and Luke shook his head and lowered it smiling. 

“Huh, that’ll come in handy.” Ian said. 

“That’s what I thought.” He said waving a hand into his chest. 

Luke laughed quietly and pushed his foot through the slush. 

“We’re not going to make you go but you should.” Ian said. 

Luke’s smile fell from his face. “I’m fine.” Luke said. 

“What’s the problem?” Mickey asked.

Luke stood still and took in a breath.

“It’s too much.” He said.

Mickey looked at Ian and his eyes were on his. They got it, everything had a price and Luke thought they wanted something. Ian’s eyes broke and he turned to Luke. 

“Luke.” Ian said softly. “I know you may not believe me but we don’t want anything.” 

Luke stayed totally still. 

“If you want to go, you can go.” Ian said. “Or we can go to the eye doctor and at least get your eyes checked.” 

“That’s a lot of money.” Luke said

“You can pay us back.” Mickey said with a shrug and Ian glared at him. 

“I don’t have any money.” Luke said. 

“You can help us fix up the house.” He said. 

Ian crossed his arms and set his teeth. 

“That would be alright.” Luke said. 

Mickey put up his hands and smiled at Ian. Ian shook his head, Mickey stuck his tongue between his teeth and smiled. 

 

Luke sat in the big chair and saw clearly for the first time in a long time. The doctor had adjusted the lenses in front of him for a long time . 

“Is it clear.” The doctor asked. 

“Yes.” He said and saw the door and the hallway, he could even see what the carpet looked like. 

“OK.” The doctor said and pushed the big machine in front of his eyes away. He felt a little sad when everything went back to blurry but he was going to be able to see soon. 

He heard the doctor move away and come back. 

“Tilt your head back please.” He heard. 

Luke immediately closed his eyes and shook his head. 

“What’s that?” Mickey said and he heard him coming closer to him.

“Dilation.” He said and Luke felt a hand on his chin and pushed himself back as his eyes flew open. Panic and tension coursed through him, he held his breath and braced his arms on the chair. 

“Hey.” Ian said his voice had a hard edge. 

“He said no.” Mickey said in very low voice. 

“Alright.” The doctor said and Luke heard him moving away. He let out the breath he was holding and got up from the chair on shaky legs, he moved to the door and stood next to it his heart pounding in his chest and he sucked in air. 

Mickey and Ian were one blur between him and the doctor and he felt his breathing slow. He took the few steps to where he had left the coat his eyes staying toward the doctor and started moving toward the door. He saw the Mickey and Ian blur come closer to him, he walked out the door and they were right behind him. 

 

Ian chopped up peppers for the sauce and glanced at Luke, he was sitting at the table with Mickey. He had a glass of juice in front of him and his hand stayed glued to the cup. He thought about the stupid doctor and shook his head.

‘What a fucking idiot!’ He thought and chopped harder. 

‘Like he couldn’t see his face?’ Ian thought and started chopping red peppers quickly.

Luke was terrified and the doctor just shrugged it off. He shook his head again and slammed the knife into the cutting board. 

“Ahhh, Ian.” Mickey said. He looked up and Mickey and Luke were looking at him. 

“Ya?” He said.

“You alright?” Mickey asked with a smile.

“Yeah.” He said and lifted the knife and narrowed his eyes. Mickey laughed and turned back to Luke.

“So you can hear like everything?” Mickey asked Luke.

“No, not right now.” Luke said. 

“But you can?” Mickey said. 

Luke laughed and said, “Not really but I can hear what’s important.”

“Like what?” Ian asked.

“When someone is telling the truth.” He said.

“No shit?” Mickey said and Ian laughed.

“Really?” Ian said.

Luke laughed and said “Yes.”

“OK let’s test it.” Mickey said.

“Mick.” Ian said. 

“What?” He said and turned to him.

“It’s alright.” Luke said. “Go ahead.” He straightened in his chair and sat very still.

Mickey drummed his fingers on the table and bit his lip thinking. Ian laughed at the look on his face and went back to chopping. 

“I have one brother “Mickey said.

“False.” Luke said, Ian looked up.

“Hmm, I have a kid.” Mickey said. 

‘Oh that’s a good one.’ Ian thought 

“True.” Luke said and Mickey turned his wide eyes to his.

“How do you do that?” Ian asked.

“I don’t know, I hear tones and deception is pretty easy.”

“Tones?” Ian said and Luke nodded. 

“Oh hey I got one.” Mickey said and Ian saw the wicked look in his eyes and sputtered out a laugh. 

“I’m not Mickey.” He said. 

“True.” Luke said immediately. Ian almost dropped the onion he was holding.

“Holy shit.” Mickey said and looked over at Ian. 

“My name is Michael.” Mickey said. 

“True.” Luke said. Ian’s mouth dropped open. Mickey’s name was Mikhalio and it was Michael in Ukrainian. 

“OK, wait.” Ian said. “My middle name is Francis.”

“False.” Luke said.

Mickey squinted his eyes at Luke and shook his head. 

“That’s fucking awesome!” Ian said and Luke’s eyes lit up and his whole face smiled. 

“I’ve never been to Mexico.” Mickey said.

“False.” Mickey’s arm went up over his head and he sat back with a huge grin. 

“Wow kid!” Mickey said and Luke giggled.

Ian opened the refrigerator and pulled out the juice, he moved to the table and reached for Luke’s cup, he held it out to him. 

“You hear tones?” Ian asked as he poured the juice. 

“Yes, they’re like music in my head.”

“Huh.” Mickey said. Ian remembered Luke smiling every time he heard Mickey’s voice. 

“So different people have different tones.” He said.

Luke nodded. 

“Hm, what do I sound like?” He asked with a smile. 

Luke tilted his head to the side and thought for a minute. 

“A triangle.” Luke said. 

“Huh?” he said with a laugh and Mickey chuckled. 

“A triangle has a clear tone like a bell, you are clear and bright.” Luke said. “There’s no deception in it only clarity.”

“Whoa.” Mickey said under his breath. 

“A triangle huh?” Ian said and walked back toward the kitchen.

“What about Westford?” Mickey asked and Ian smiled, he wanted to hear this.

“He’s two, he’s a tuba all blustery air and a flute, there’s sweetness under the bluster.”

“I couldn't have described him any better.” Ian said. 

“Nope” Mickey said with a shake of his head. “That’s crazy.” Mickey said smiling at Luke. 

Ian cocked his head and narrowed his eyes,

“What about Mickey?” He asked. 

He watched Luke’s face as it lit up.

“All of them.” Luke said with a big smile. 

Ian laughed and Mickey twisted his face up.

Luke nodded and said. “I’ve never heard a whole orchestra in one voice.” 

Ian laughed again and Mickey gave him a dirty look. 

“Come on.” Mickey said. 

“That’s a bass.” He said. 

“Oh ya.” Ian said and tilted his head like he could hear it. 

“Ha!” Mickey said dryly. 

“Drum.” Luke said.

Ian laughed and dropped the onions in the sauce.

Mickey sputtered and hissed. 

“Saxaphone.” Luke said.

“I didn’t even talk.” Mickey shot out and Ian bent over the counter laughing. 

Luke smiled and stopped. Mickey rolled his eyes.

“Go ahead.” Mickey said.

“Cello.” Luke said and Mickey shook his head but smiled at Luke. 

“I’m only one huh?” Ian said.

“Triangles make different sounds depends on how hard you hit them.” Luke said seriously. 

“That’s you man.” Mickey said nodding with a smile. 

“Violin.” Luke said quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

Sutter knocked on the door of the little white house Ian and Mickey had bought, he took a step back and looked over it again. 

‘Nice.’ He thought. 

It looked like the little house they had in Iowa but a little bigger. He had been surprised by Ian’s call but had said yes when he had asked him to come by and meet Luke, he had been light on the details but he knew enough. 

The door opened and Ian stood with his arm out and a big smile on his face. 

“Hey!” Ian said and Sutter smiled and stepped up into the house. 

“How ya doin?’” He asked Ian. 

“Good, come on in.” Ian said stepping back and waving one long arm. 

He looked around the living room and saw the inside of the house was similar to the house in Iowa as much as the outside. He was carrying a big bag his wife had given him and set it down by the door, he looked toward the table and saw Mickey facing him and a little kid with his back to him. 

“Hey Mick.” He said and Mickey smiled and stood up walking toward him. 

“Hey.” Mickey said and crossed his arms. 

“Mm something smells good.” He said and glanced over at the boy as he walked toward the kitchen.

“Spaghetti and meatballs.” Ian said. Sutter turned around and smiled at Ian, it was his favorite.

“Want a beer?” Mickey asked.

“Ya, please.” Sutter said. 

“Luke, this is Big.” Ian said and Sutter smiled at the nickname. 

‘Five years and they still called me Big or Frick.’ He thought. He didn’t mind, they had grown on him. 

Sutter took a few steps and the kid turned to him and he kept his face set in a smile but he was shocked and sickened by Luke’s face. His eyes sockets were dark blue and purple, his mouth was torn up and the left side of his face was almost black.

“Hello Luke.” He said. 

“Hello.” Luke said and Sutter noticed something odd about the way he said it but before he could think about it Ian was walking up with the big bowl of spaghetti and Mickey had walked back from the kitchen with a beer for him and basket of garlic bread, he leaned over and put the beer in front of a place already set for him and put the basket on the table.

“Luke you gotta try this man.” Mickey said and picked up a piece of bread and Luke reached out for it. 

Sutter saw the bowl of salad on the counter and walked over to get it, he glanced back over his shoulder and Luke had broken off a small piece and was chewing the garlic bread with his mouth carefully closed.

Luke nodded and Mickey smiled widely and took a long drink of his beer and pulled his chair into the table. 

Ian picked up Luke’s plate and pulled out a huge mound of spaghetti with tongs and put on the plate.

“Ian makes the best bread.” He said as he walked around Ian and found a place for the salad on the table. 

Ian smiled and set the plate down in front of Luke. 

“Thank you.” Luke said quietly.

Ian picked up the spoon in the salad bowl and a small bowl already stacked on the table and dished two scoops in. He set it down in front of Luke and sat down, the mound of spaghetti was as big as Luke’s head and Sutter hid a smile behind his raised hands, they were both gone over the kid already. 

Sutter lifted a small bowl and dished himself out some salad. 

“Nah, you wanna talk bread, this guy makes some seriously good bread.” Ian said pointing a thumb to him. Sutter looked over at Luke as Mickey handed him the bowl of spaghetti. 

Luke was sitting forward and lifted a fork full and shoved it in his mouth, the spaghetti fell out of his mouth and he carefully pushed it up into his mouth with his fork. Sutter watched his eyes close as he chewed, he had a serene look on his face for a moment. He reached out and picked up the napkin and wiped it over his lips as he pushed his fork in for more spaghetti with his eyes still closed. 

Sutter picked up the tongs and pulled the spaghetti out for himself, Ian knew he loved Italian and Ian’s sauce had become better and better over the past five years. 

“How’s Ginny?” Ian asked as he ate his salad. 

“Good.” He said and smiled, his wife was his whole world.

“Mmm.” He heard from Luke and his eyes were still closed and he was eating steadily. 

He looked at Ian and Ian nodded with a sad look in his eye. Sutter picked up his beer and let out a breath.

‘The kid wasn’t fed.” He thought and he felt his teeth grind together.

He kept his eyes on his salad and tried to calm himself down. The kid was almost beaten to death and starved, he didn’t know exactly what Ian and Mickey wanted for him but whatever it was if it was within his power he would do it. 

He moved his fork to his spaghetti and took a bite, it was even better than the last time he had it. 

“OOhmm.” He mumbled around his full mouth. Ian smiled and asked,

“Ya?” 

“Oh mm.” He mumbled around another bite.

He heard Luke’s laugh and turned to him. He chewed and watched him, he wasn’t looking at him but he had laughed. 

“Oh ya, they do this.” Mickey said. “It’s like code, the cooking shit.”

Ian laughed and he saw Luke smile around his full mouth. 

“I don’t know what they’re sayin’ half the time.” Mickey said picking up his beer and rolling his eyes.

Luke laughed again and Mickey smiled at Luke.

They ate and Sutter watched them, they were focused on Luke but making sure he wasn’t the center of attention. That was smart, an abused kid needed space.

“The house is great.” He said and Mickey looked around with a critical eye.

“It’s getting’ there.” Mickey said and sat back in his chair. “That was goooood."

“Yes it was.” Luke said, and he was still eating. He had eaten the whole big plate of food and the salad.

“We’re doing in here next.” Mickey said and nodded toward the living room.

“Yeah, what’s the plan?” Sutter asked.

“Tear it up.” Mickey said and stood with a smile, he picked up his plate and moved closer to Ian and took Luke’s plate carefully. 

“We’re tearing out the walls and ripping up that carpet, yuck.” Ian said. 

“Ya, hard wood.” Mickey said. 

“Mm, hard wood is a bitch to put down.” Sutter said. He had put it down in his living room and remembered swearing a blue streak when he had to tear it all up after he realized he had made a mistake. 

“Ya, but totally worth it.” Ian said.

“Ginny likes it.” He said and smiled. As long as Ginny liked it, the bitching and swearing was worth it. 

“Ginny is my wife.” He said to Luke and Luke turned toward him. Sutter’s eyes looked over his face and his heart broke for him. 

“20 years?” Ian said. He looked away from Luke’s broken face. 

“22.” He said smiling at Ian. 

“Wow.” Ian said. 

“My name isn’t Big though, it’s James.” He said to Luke.

“Or Frick.” Mickey said with a shooting laugh.

Luke laughed quietly. 

“Ian calls me Big and Mickey calls me Frick, it’s a long story.” He said with a smile in his voice. 

“You can call me whatever you like.” He said. 

“James.” Luke said. Sutter heard his name and his heart skipped in his chest. 

“Ian asked me to come to talk to you but it’s up to you if you want to.” He said in a low steady voice.

“That’s fine.” Luke said and Sutter was a little surprised at his quick answer.

“We told him who you are and why you were coming.” Ian said. 

“And trust me, if he didn’t want to talk to you he would not.” Mickey said firmly. 

“Ah ya.” Ian said. 

“Little Houdini.” Mickey grumbled and he saw Luke lips turn up into a sly smile. 

“If you’re uncomfortable in any way you just let me know OK?” He said. 

“Yes.” Luke said and sat very still. 

“Are you from Chicago.”

“No.” Luke said. 

“Where are you from?”

“I’ve moved around a lot.” Luke said. Sutter heard ‘I’ and not ‘we’, he didn’t consider the people who beat him his family. 

“Do you have family outside of Chicago?”

“I don’t think so, no.” Luke said in a matter of fact tone, he was used to being alone. 

Sutter drank the last of his beer and saw Mickey get up and walk toward the kitchen. He put the empty beer bottle carefully on the table. 

“How old are you?” He asked. Ian had told him but after seeing how small he was he thought he may have been lying about his age.

Mickey walked around Ian and handed him another beer, they both looked toward Luke. He had his head down and he hadn’t answered with the usual quickness. Mickey handed him the beer and stood beside Ian, he looked down at Ian with his eyebrows drawn together and rubbed a hand over Ian’s shoulder. 

“What month is it?” Luke asked quietly and Sutter blinked his eyes against the tears that came fast. Ian twisted the cap off of the beer as his face twisted up in anger. Mickey dug his hand into Ian’s shoulder and took a long drink of his beer. 

“It’s January 12th” He said firmly.

“I’m 13.” Luke said. Sutter believed him, his body language and voice were totally truthful. 

“When’s your birthday?” He asked. 

“February 15th.” Luke said. 

Mickey squeezed Ian’s shoulder as he stepped behind him and back to his chair, he picked it up and brought it next to Ian’s. Ian looked at Luke with sadness and Mickey sat beside him and Sutter saw their arms move together and knew Mickey had reached out for Ian’s hand under the table. 

“Jason’s is the 16th.” Sutter said quietly and held his beer in both hands. 

“He’s 18?” Ian said. Sutter stared at his beer. 

“19.” Sutter said and thought of his son. 

“Does he still wanna be a cop?” Mickey said with a scowl. 

“Yeah” Sutter said. 

“Jeez.” Mickey said and shook his head. 

“He has some good qualities though.” Ian said with a gleam in his eyes.

Sutter nodded and laughed lightly. Luke was looking toward Ian and Mickey with his head tilted and a quizzical look on his face. Sutter smiled at the look on his face, he had looked at them that way too when he first met them.

Luke turned to him and asked “Is that all you’d like to know?”

“Yeah.” Sutter said. “Unless there’s something you’d like to tell me.” 

Luke thought for a second, a look passed over his face that Sutter recognized and Luke shook his head.

“No, I don’t need to.” Luke said. 

He turned back to Mickey and Ian and they were looking between him and Luke. 

Sutter tipped his beer back and looked away. 

“What’s Sutter?” Mickey asked and Luke’s smile lit up his face. He saw a beautiful kid under all of the hurt that had been forced on him. 

Ian stood up and walked over to the counter, he picked up a big bottle of ibuprophen. 

“What am I?” he asked. Ian shook the pills in his hand as he walked back to the table, he held his arm out across the table. Luke put his hand out and Ian dropped them into his hand with a smile on his face. 

“Nothin’.” Mickey said with a wicked smile and drank his beer. 

Luke brought his hand back and put his other hand over the pills, his little fingers moved over them as Ian poured more orange juice into his cup. Luke put the pills in his mouth and lifted his glass.

“Tired?” Ian asked and Luke nodded. “Come on.” Luke carefully stood up and turned to him.

“Goodnight James.” Luke said.

“Goodnight Luke.” He said. 

“Goodnight.” Luke said turning toward Mickey. 

“Night kid.” Mickey said with a smile.

Luke walked around the table and his eyes followed him. 

He was in pain but didn’t show it. He was taking Ibuprophen instead of narcotics. He was almost blind and had adjusted to survive. He was beaten and alone but he was kind. He was smart as a whip and didn’t show it off. 

Sutter wiped a hand over his face and Mickey was looking down at the beer on the table and shook his head slowly. 

Ian came back through the kitchen and opened the fridge for more beer. He came around the table and put one in front of Mickey and one in front of him. Mickey downed the last of his beer and twisted off the cap of the other. 

“What fucking month is it?” Ian said quietly. Mickey shook his head bringing the beer to his lips and reached out for Ian’s hand. 

“There’s no one to find.” Sutter said quietly. 

“Nope.” Mickey said and hissed.

Ian took a long drink and brought the beer down, he stared at it in his hand.

He picked up the beer as he stood up as he picked up his plate and walked around them bringing it into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and put the unopened beer back and walked to the sink. He rinsed his plate as Ian stood up. 

“What do we do now?” Ian asked. Sutter carefully put the plate down and turned to Ian. 

“You’re already doing enough.” Sutter said walking toward Ian. “He’s sleeping in a warm bed and ate about a ton of spaghetti. “ 

Ian smiled and bit his lip. 

“You did good.” He said and Ian’s eyes lifted from the floor to his. There was doubt in his eyes and pain for the kid but he knew behind his soft outside Ian had a tough mettle and wouldn’t back away or break from what was to come. 

He gave him a pat on his shoulder and Ian smiled wider. 

He walked past the table and toward the door looking down at the carpet he walked over. 

‘Yuck is right.’ He thought and imagined a nice light oak on the floor. 

“Oak?” He said.

“Ya.” Mickey said. 

“Nice.” He said and lifted his coat from the hook. Ian was walking toward him and he shrugged on his coat. 

“There’s some clothes in there.” he said and nodded toward the bag.

Ian’s face lit up as he smiled. 

“Thanks.” Ian said. 

“No problem” He said. 

“I put white pepper in the sauce, too much?” Ian said 

“No it was good and the onions, nice.”

“Oh ya, I braised them.”

“Ya? Hm.” Sutter said. “I’ll have to try that,”

“Blah blah bllaaahhh.” He heard from across the room., he looked toward Mickey and smiled. He was walking into the kitchen with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the empty spaghetti bowl in his hand. 

“I’ll pull the police report, see what I can find.” He said 

Mickey nodded and pulled the cigarette from his mouth. 

“There’s not going to be much I guess.” Ian said. 

Sutter shook his head and said. “No but I’ll get his last name.”

“Oh yeah.” Ian said. He knew it had been the last thing on their minds but the man who beat him was probably in the system and he would start there. 

“Thanks for dinner.” He said turning toward the door.

“Sure man.” Ian said and Sutter walked out into the cold. He didn’t turn around as Ian closed the door and walked steadily to his SUV. He hit the lock on his key ring to disengage the alarm and unlock the doors, he kept his eyes on the truck and his feet moving. 

He opened the door and stepped up into the truck, he pulled the door in with so much force the SUV swayed. He grit his teeth together and he felt the surge of blinding anger and hate surge through him. He shoved the key in the ignition and twisted it, he let the engine run and took long breaths calming himself enough to drive safely. 

He pressed his foot on the gas carefully and settled back for the drive home, they lived in a suburb and it was about a 35 minute drive. He was going to need the time to get his head together, he didn’t want Ginny to see his reaction to Luke. 

She knew of course but he didn’t want her to worry, he had told her about Luke and he had seen her eyes change. 

“Jason’s old clothes are in the attic.” She had said. He smiled at the memory. That was his girl, she kicked right into action and he loved her for it. 

He hoped Luke would accept the clothes, they were old but in good shape and Ginny had made sure there were lots of sweaters and thick socks in there. Luke probably would accept them because they weren’t brand new, new meant money and money was danger. 

He thought about Luke’s tone when he had said hello, he had turned away to Ian but he thought about it now. Luke had mimicked his tone exactly and that had been what caught his attention. The kid knew right from the moment he spoke. He wasn’t surprised, it was pretty common for abused kids to pick up other people moods and see things other people didn’t. 

What did surprise him was the fact that he couldn’t see and he still knew, his body language had been set into casual and pleasant but Luke had heard his tone and knew. He felt a twinge of shame but pushed it down, that was something that came with him but he had learned to live with it. 

Luke’s birthday had hit him in the gut when he had said it, one day from Jason’s. 

‘His name is Jason and his birthday is February 16th.’ He thought firmly. 

Jason, his brother and best friend. 

They had done everything together including steal food from the little store in the small nothing town they lived in. They’d get chased out but Jas always got something and he would always hold it out to him first when they would be far enough away from the store to be safe. They’d hole up in a barn and Jas would start a fire if they stole something they needed to cook or they’d eat it cold with their hands. 

They stayed there a lot, their father was a drunk and their mother had taken off when he was two. The broken down shack that was ‘home’ was dirty and smelled like cigarettes and piss all the time. Their father would get sick of them being under foot and tell them to get out, they’d live in the barn for a while until their father would get a woman or a job and let them back in. 

Their father was either passed out or drunk, there was no in between.

When they were kicked out they’d check to see which before they’d sneak in and quietly wash up in the dirty little sink in the bathroom, the water was freezing but Jas insisted they wash up once a day. He knew now Jas had been teaching him how to take care of himself.

He felt his eyes fill will tears.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He heard in his head. They had frozen on the spot, they had been in the middle of washing up and were both naked. 

“I told you to get out you little shit.” He hissed at him. Their drunken father was standing over them and he was seething with rage, he had felt his whole body let go and had pissed on the floor. Their father had seen it and growled. 

“RUN!” He heard. 

He had run and his father had caught him, it was a blur of smacking and grunts as his fists came down. 

“NOOO!” he heard. 

The fists and grunts stopped and he was on the dirty floor curled up on his side. 

There was a loud thud and he opened his eyes, Jas was on the floor. His father had thrown him across the room, his eyes were rolling but they were open. 

Their eyes locked and he saw Jason’s eyes focus on his. There was love and something else in them he didn’t understand at the time but now he knew, his brother had been willing to die to protect him. 

“Go James!” Jason said panting. He had shaken his head and felt the dizziness and sick crawl up in him.

“Jas.” He heard his small voice say.

His eyes were still on his as his father reached Jas, he saw the arm swing and he had closed his eyes. 

He heard slams and the grunts of pain from Jas.

“Motherfucker.” He heard. Jas had growled and he heard his father grunting. He opened his eyes and Jason was swinging and kicking him while his father held him up. He had blood pouring from his eye but he was furiously fighting him. 

“GOOO.” He heard. He had stood up and heard grunting behind him, he moved his feet and started to run. 

He had looked back and through his tears had seen Jas looking toward him with a smile and a steel look in his eyes. 

That was the last time he had seen his brother alive. 

Sutter took a long breath, he knew meeting Luke would bring these memories and he had steeled himself against it. Ginny had giving him a long hug before he left and he had carried it with him through Ian and Mickey’s door.

Luke had said, ‘Good night James” when he had gone to bed, in the space they came from they were no one, they didn’t have names, they were bastard or shit or faggot.

Names were important, they made you real. Luke had said his name carefully making him real, he had felt his heart swell and had said Luke’s name letting him know he understood his kindness. 

‘My name is James and I have a brother named Jason.’ He thought. He never thought of Jas in the past tense, he was always with him. 

He pulled onto his street and saw the lights of home.

 

Mickey saw Ian pick up the bag and walk through the living room as he picked up another bowl from the table. Ian set it down on the chair and opened it.

“Wow, there's tons of shit in here.” He said as he pulled the top clothes out to see what Sutter had brought for Luke.

Mickey grabbed up more plates and brought them to the sink, he lowered them and listened to Ian unpack the clothes onto the table. 

“Well at least he’ll have some nice clothes.” Ian said with a sigh.

Mickey picked up a smoke and turned around, Ian was taking out jeans at the bottom of the bag.

“Sutter’s right though.” Mickey said lighting the smoke. 

“Ya.” Ian said nodding and sat in the chair Luke sat in with one arm out on the table Mickey saw him pushing at his wedding ring with his thumb. 

“The glasses are going to take a few days.” Ian said with his eyebrows drawn together. 

Mickey walked over to the table and sat in the chair Sutter had sat in, he sat back with his legs out and smoked and watched Ian think. 

“And I can take a couple of days off.” Ian said and slid his thumb over his bottom lip quickly. 

“Mm.” Mickey said and smiled, Ian was staring into space not looking at him, Mickey tilted his head to see his face and it was all scrunched up in thought. 

Mickey smiled wider and crossed his ankles. 

“A few days.” Ian said. “Westford could find a good place for him.” Ian said turning to him.

‘Ya.” Mickey said looking down at his smoke. He nodded and bunched up his face like he was thinking about it. 

“It’ll give Big some time to find out about him.” Ian said with a shrug of his shoulder. 

“Yeah, and Westford can look.” Mickey said and handed the smoke to Ian. Ian took a drag and Mickey smiled the second his head was turned. 

Ian sat back and nodded, he was done thinking and Mickey rubbed a hand over his head and stretched. He was tired, waking up at the crack of dawn had him in bed early every night and being dragged around the world today had knocked him out. Ian handed him the smoke and stood up and grabbed the last of the dishes. 

Mickey rubbed at his eyes and thought about Luke, the kid got to him. He was quiet but in his eyes you could see he was sharp as a tac. He had cracked up when he had burst out, ‘Man you swear a lot.’ his eyes had gone wide like he didn’t mean to say it and he had dropped his head to his chest. 

He was an orchestra? He kinda knew what that was but his guard had dropped while he was telling them what instrument they were. The way he had described Ian was dead on, clear and bright with different tones.

Mickey stood up and walked around the table and reached for the ashtray, he picked it up and crushed out the smoke. Ian was rinsing dishes and putting them on the counter, he turned to him and dried his hands throwing the towel on the counter.

He saw the look in Ian’s eye and his blood went hot. He put the ashtray behind him on the counter and waited for Ian to reach him. Ian lifted his hand to his waist and his eyes were burning into his. Ian slid one hand under his shirt and lifted it until he found skin over the waistband of his jeans. Mickey felt his fingers trail over his skin and bit his lip. He felt his other fingers spread out over his skin and goosebumps shot through him. 

“We.” Ian said grazing his fingernails over his back. “Are going to have to be really..” He brought his tongue over Mickey’s lips and opened them. 

“Really.” Ian said bringing his hand to his neck.

“Quiet.” Ian said and his tongue came back down to his. Mickey slid his tongue to his and felt Ian pull him into his mouth. 

 

Luke accepted the clothes and that was a relief to Ian, he took the next two days off and Ian started tearing apart the living room. Luke was very serious about helping, he wanted to know exactly how much the appointment and glasses had cost. Ian had tried to lie and Luke had shaken his head until he had hit the real number. Ian knew his ribs must still be sore but he would pick up the drywall from the floor and put it in the big bin. Ian went slow as he smashed the walls, he only did the first two walls the first day.

“Think that’s it for today.” He said wiping his arm over his head and looked down at Luke, his eyes were less purple and less blue but the side of his face was still black. 

“You hungry?” Ian asked and walked into the kitchen. He washed his hands and Luke carefully put the last of the drywall into the bin. 

“Yes.” Luke said. 

Luke smacked his hands together and walked over into the kitchen, he came up beside Ian and reached his hands into the water. Ian froze, Luke had not been this close to him since he had been here. His arm was touching his side and he was close enough that Ian could smell the shampoo in his hair from his shower this morning. Luke washed his hands and held them out, Ian reached for a towel and let the edge fall into his hands. 

“Thank you.” Luke said. Luke dried his hands and Ian took a step back, he didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable if he realized he hadn’t been on guard for a minute. Ian felt his heart melt in his chest, Luke being that close meant he felt a little bit safe. 

“Hmm.” Ian said. “I have sandwich stuff or macaroni and cheese. “ He opened the refrigerator and took out the juice and a beer. Luke was folding the towel when he turned back.

“Or pizza?” He said. 

“Pizza?” Luke said and Ian laughed at his face, he had lit up like a lightbulb. 

“Pizza.” Ian said and picked up his phone to order.

 

They sat on the couch with the pizza box on the coffee table and ate pizza, Ian had watched Luke and just the smell had sent his face into a serene happy look. He was on his second piece before he came up for air. 

“Whoever invented pizza.” Luke said. “Really good guy.” Ian laughed at his serious tone. Luke smiled and lifted his cup to his mouth. 

“I don’t know if pizza and orange juice really go together.” Ian said. 

“Orange juice goes with everything.” Luke said with a shake of his head and took another bite. Ian laughed at his answer, he said everything carefully but every now and then his guard would drop and this smart ass would come out. 

“What’d you think of Sutter.” Ian asked and took a drink of his beer. 

Luke paused and chewed slower. Ian waited until he swallowed and Luke opened his mouth but didn’t speak. He sat back on the couch and lowered his pizza, Ian didn’t see a child when he looked at him in that moment, he looked like he had lived a long time and was weighing something heavily in his mind. 

“He’s a good man.” Luke said. Ian turned his head, that wasn’t what he expected at all. Luke picked an onion off of his pizza and brought it up to his mouth. 

“He is.” Ian said. “I didn’t think you’d like a cop.” 

“People aren’t what they do.” Luke said slowly. “Everyone has good and bad in them.”

Luke took a big bite of pizza. 

“Man.” Ian said. “You’re like a little Yoda!” 

Luke smiled around his pizza. 

“No.” Luke said and put his hand over his mouth.

“Star Wars?” Ian said and Luke nodded with his hand over his mouth and Ian saw his light blue eyes light up like it was Christmas morning. 

 

Mickey dropped down to the ground and slammed the truck door. Work had been rough, it was fucking freezing and they had not blown up one fucking thing today. He was in a shit mood and wanted to sit on the couch and drink a beer and make out with Ian. 

‘Then eat fuck sleep, in that order.’ He thought as he walked up to the door. 

He opened the door and was hit with the sound of lasers coming from all directions, he dropped his head and he stepped in. 

The death star was being blown up…again!!! He saw Ian sitting back in the corner of the couch and Luke at the other end sitting straight up. A pizza box sat open on the table between them and there were two empty beer bottles on the table and a big cup. 

“Hey.” Ian said with a smile.

“Mm.” He grunted.

Mickey took off his coat with his eyes rolling.

“Red leader.” He heard for the fifth time, he lifted his coat to put it on the peg and the peg wasn’t there, nothing was there. Ian had ripped out the living room walls, he gave Ian a dirty look and Ian was watching Star Wars drinking his beer. Mickey carried his jacket to the table and put it on the back of the chair, he sat and took his boots off and felt like 10 pounds came off of him. He walked back into the torn up living room, the floor was white with drywall dust and Mickey saw the full bin in the corner. 

He also saw there was one piece of pizza left and frowned. 

Ian pushed over on the couch and he sat down heaving out a long breath, Ian reached a hand out over his leg and wrapped it around his thigh.

‘That’s better.’ He thought and reached out for Ian’s beer, Ian handed it to him and Mickey kicked his feet out under the table. He leaned over and took the last piece of pizza and sank his teeth over it. 

“There’s more in the kitchen.” Ian said and Mickey smiled. 

‘Much better.’ He thought drinking his beer and watched the death star get blown up….again.

 

Ian closed the bedroom door and leaned against it, Mickey had taken a shower before bed and was all wet and clean, he watched him push his hands through his hair and step into a pair of sweatpants. His back muscles were defined and cut from working with a sledgehammer all day and Ian wanted to trail his finger down every single ripple. 

‘That’s a good idea.’ He thought and stepped up to his back. He opened his hand and moved it over his shoulder muscles and Mickey stopped moving and turned his head, Ian saw his eyes come to his and he bit his lip and kept his eyes on his. Ian moved his thumb under his shoulder and dug his finger in.

“Mm.” Mickey murmured and closed his eyes. Ian trailed his finger over his hot skin and Mickey’s breathing came harder. Ian lowered his mouth to the crook of his neck and closed his mouth over it, Mickey leaned back into him and his hands came around his hips. Ian wrapped his arm around him hard and Mickey opened his mouth and Mickey leaned his head back against his shoulder. Ian slid his sweatpants down and licked over his neck and Mickey turned around and brought Ian’s lips down to his. Their tongues teased and Ian felt Mickey’s lips moved with his, he smelled like water and earth and his mind turned off and his body felt the rolling deep heat that came over him when he touched him. 

Mickey grabbed his hip and pushed himself against him and he felt how hard Mickey was for him, Ian pushed him back against the wall and Mickey hissed and his eyes were blue heat. Ian lifted his shirt pulled it over his head, Mickey bit his lip and pushed down his shorts. Ian gripped both of Mickey’s hips and pulled them toward him lowering his mouth to his shoulder, he trailed his bottom lips over it and up his neck and Mickey’s hands were digging into the back and neck. 

Mickey’s mouth was open and he was hissing his breath in and out quickly. Ian slipped his tongue aver his and Mickey’s came out to his, he pulled him around and they went down on the bed. Ian pushed his hand over Mickey and he arched his back holding Ian’s shoulders. Ian slid his tongue down and slipped it over his cock, Mickey arched and let out a long hot breath. 

Ian teased the head of his cock quickly and stood up, he found the bottle by the bed and covered himself with the hot lube and gripped Mickey’s cock with one hand as he pushed into him hard. Mickey bit his lip and gripped the bed and Ian moved hard and steady, Mickey moved and his hand coated with lube stayed still and Mickey came in his hand panting, Ian let go and held his hips. He moved hard and fast and Mickey arched with his eyes on his and his teeth closed over his bottom lip. Ian came holding Mickey’s hips hard in his hand and the Mickey’s hands were gripped around his lower arms. Ian brought his hands up his sides and his chest. Mickey smiled up at him and his eyes sparkled, he shifted Ian onto his back quickly with a growl. He kissed him quickly and deepened the kiss with a low hum in his throat. 

Mickey lifted his head and brought his hand up to Ian’s face and looked down at him with his eyes still hot. 

“You read my mind.” He said in a low deep voice and bit Ian’s lower lip. 

“Mm.” Mickey licked over his jaw and nipped his teeth over his neck. Ian hissed and felt the heat start in him again. 

Mickey lifted his head and he kissed him hard and hot pushing at his tongue, Ian pushed his tongue into his and brought his hand up to the back of Mickey’s neck and held on to it as they started all over again. 

 

Ian smashed the walls and Luke listened to where the drywall fell. 

“I have a big family.” Ian was saying, he had said all their names and he had just kept going and going. 

“You’ll meet them.” Ian said and hit the wall.

“That may take a long time.” Luke said and Ian laughed.

“Ya, then there’s Mandy and Heidi and V and Kev……”

“Did your parents not understand the concept of birth control?” He said and froze on the spot, it had come out without thought.

“I’m sorry.” He said immediately and Ian laughed long and hard. Luke shook his head and tried not to smile.

“I am. I’m sorry that was rude.” Luke said.

“Luke you’re a smart ass and smart asses get along just fine in this house.” Ian said with a smile in his voice.

Luke smiled and heard Ian laugh as the wall crashed down to the floor. 

 

Luke was picking up the last of the drywall and heard Mickey’s truck, he straightened up and tilted his head. 

‘Is that right?’ He thought and listened closer. He was right, it was Mickey’s truck. They had only just finished the drywall and hadn’t had lunch yet.

Mickey opened the door

“Hey.” Mickey called out with happiness in his voice. He was green and blue and he moved in a way that told Luke he was taking off his coat.

“Come on Luke, lunch!” Ian said. 

They walked into the kitchen and he followed them, he stood at the sink and washed the drywall off of his hand and Ian had left the towel in the same place as he left it yesterday. 

“Got somthin’ for ya.” Mickey said and Luke knew he was talking to him by his tone. Luke saw they were standing at the table and moved around the other side to the chair he sat in during dinner. 

“He looks like he’s going to the gallows.” Ian said. 

“Ya man.” Mickey said and shrank in front of him, he heard something click on the table. 

Luke reached out and felt hard plastic, he focused his eyes and it was a black blur. He felt around the side and felt a little latch. 

‘My glasses.’ He thought. 

He felt a rush of happiness and popped the lock. He moved his hand over the glass, he felt the steel frames Ian had said looked the best and picked them up. He opened them and took a deep breath closing his eyes. They went around his ears and slid up his nose and he opened his eyes and blinked. 

Everything was so clear, he saw that the table was wood and he could see the grain perfectly. He reached his hand out to feel the grain and saw his hand, it was bigger than the last time he saw it. He turned his hand over and felt the inside of his hand with his thumb. He could see the lines on his hands, he moved his fingers one by one and watched them move. 

He looked up slowly to where Ian and Mickey were standing and saw them for the first time. 

Ian was pale and had an angular face and light green eyes, he was smiling brightly and waved a huge hand at him. Mickey laughed beside him and Luke shifted his eyes to him. He was dark were Ian was light and had bright blue eyes, he had a hard face but it was a nice face and he was smiling as brightly as Ian. 

“So whatcha think?” Mickey said and waved his arm in front of Ian and himself. 

“Pretty awesome huh?” Ian said nodding, Mickey nodded along with Ian. 

Smart asses get along just fine in this house he remembered. 

Luke tilted his head like he was thinking about it, they both smiled again and Luke saw their faces change. He saw every one of their teeth and their eyes crinkle up. 

“Eh you’re OK.” Luke said and they laughed again. 

He watched them laugh and listened to their happy tones. 

 

They ate lunch and Luke took in every detail of everything. The bread was very interesting, his glasses before must have been weak because he didn’t remember the holes in the bread. He saw the edge of the plate and the shadow it made. 

‘Huh shadows.’ He thought and lifted his hand under the light to make a shadow on the table. He looked up and down to make sure it was right, he could see his fingers move in the shadow.

Mostly he watched Ian and Mickey, they moved a lot more than he thought, their hands were waving and shoulders going up and down. Their facial expressions were confusing, they said one thing and their face said another.

‘Hm, maybe I’m doing it wrong.’ He thought and closed his eyes. They talked around him and he heard what he thought he had heard. He opened his eyes and watched them and there it was again, conflicting faces and voices. 

‘This is going to take some getting used to.’ He thought and ate his holey bread. 

 

Mickey stepped up into his truck with a smile on his face. 

‘Man, that was somethin’” He thought as he turned the ignition. Luke’s face had gone from determined to happy as hell in a second when he realized what he had brought. He had taken a breath like he was going under water and his eyes had gone wide. He had looked up at them and had inspected them carefully. He guessed they passed because he had given them a smart ass answer with a smart ass look in his eyes. Mickey lit a smoke with a little laugh.

‘The kid’s a fucking riot.” He thought.

He was still skittish but he smiled more every day. He shook his head and thought about him picking up the drywall, he knew it was his idea but shit the kid had to be in pain. Ian would give him the ibuprohen and he would feel them to make sure what it was before he took it every time. He wouldn’t take anything else and Ian had backed off when he had offered Vicodin, so he took one for the kid, he smiled remembering Ian’s dirty look. 

Ian had called Sutter about any family Luke didn’t know about, he was still digging but Mickey knew there would be no one offering to take him even if Sutter did find someone. Ian had called Westford about finding him somewhere to go but Mickey knew nowhere would be right. Luke had his glasses and Ian was talking about taking him to meet the gaggles of Gallghers this weekend. Ian was crazy about the kid. 

‘Guess he’s staying.’ He thought. He took a long drag of his smoke and smiled.

 

Luke met the Gallaghers and they were always moving and they were loud and he loved it. He watched them all move around each other and laugh, there was a feeling there he had felt at Ian and Mickey’s, it was warm and nice and very inviting. There were so many of them but he got all their names and heard them all talking about their lives. 

They didn’t gasp or react to his face like strangers did which was a relief, Ian must have told them before he got here and now that he could see people’s faces it was worse. His eyes had mostly healed and his lip was better but his cheek was still dark brown with blues and purples around the edges. 

Ian was sitting next to him and listening to Fiona talk about her apartments Ian and Mickey had moved out of. She talked about Liam, who didn’t look like his last name should be Gallagher but thought it would be rude to point that out.

“He’s getting’ all B’s” Fiona said and took a tray out of the oven. 

“That’s great!” Ian said. 

“You should get Luke into that school.” Fiona said and turned to a cabinet.

Luke felt a slick of fear slide through him. They thought he was staying with them? They hadn’t talked about it and he hadn’t thought past the next minute for the past week. 

“Ya, hm.“ Ian said and slid his ring finger over his thumb. “I was thinking public school for now.” 

Luke felt happiness roll through him at the thought of going back to school. 

“Either is fine.” He said and Ian looked over at him.

“You like school?” Ian asked.

“Yes.” He said with a nod.

“Huh.” Ian said twisting his mouth back and forth. 

“Do you have a copy of Liam’s birth certificate?” Ian asked Fiona.

“Ahh, ya somewhere.” Fiona said and brought over about 20 plates to the table and put them down. 

Ian face turned into a big smile as he tilted his head at Fiona.

 

Luke left the Gallagher house with a second hand backpack, more clothes and an old MP3 player Ian had dug out and had spent an hour looking for batteries for it. He had looked though the list and seen all kinds of songs, all different styles and genres. 

“Thank you.” He said to Fiona she stood with her hands on her hips and smiled down at him.

“You’re welcome.” She said with a little laugh. “So polite! Wish all of you were like that?” 

“HA!” Ian said and hugged her.

“If you need anything.” She said 

“Thanks” Ian said and straightened up, Fiona gave him a sweet smile and held his arms. Ian tilted his head and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. 

Fiona waved at him as they walked out the door and Luke walked down the steps next to Ian.

“So what did you think?” Ian said when they got to the car.

Luke looked up at him as he opened the door.

“They’re crazy.” Luke said and Ian smiled brightly at him.

“Yup” Ian said and Luke got in the car smiling. 

There was crazy good and crazy bad, and the Gallaghers were definitely crazy good.

 

Mickey sat on the stool of the Alibi and heard the latest bullshit from the regulars. Ian had asked him the night before if he wanted to go with them to the Gallaghers. 

“No thanks, I’ll get my dose of crazy at the bar like normal people.” He had said. 

Ian didn’t laugh but he had narrowed his eyes and given him a long dirty look and Mickey had had to reach over to Ian’s lap licking his lips, Ian’s eyes rolled closed as his hand wrapped around him making him hard in a second. He had hummed low in his throat and got on his knees in front of the couch taking his cock into his hot mouth. Ian had gone from pissed to turned on in a heartbeat, Mickey laughed under his breath and waved to Kev for another shot. 

“What are you so happy about?” Tommy said.

“Huh?” Mickey said and shook his head. 

“Wedded bliss huh?” Tommy said and Mickey scowled at him.

“Fuck off. Hey.” He called out to Kev and he brought over the whiskey bottle. 

“It’s fucked up.” Tommy said.

“What?” Mickey said and slammed back the shot. 

“Nothin’ just didn’t think you’d end up ya know…here.”

Mickey chased the whiskey with his beer and gave Tommy a dirty look.

“I’ve been comin’ here since I was 12.” Mickey said and lit a smoke scowling. 

“No, I mean not dead.” Tommy said.

“He was dead.” Kev said and pulled another beer. 

“True.” Tommy said and Mickey shook his head and put his hand up. 

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” He said.

“You have to admit, you were pretty hard core.” Kev said and put another beer on the bar.

“Ya?" Ge shot out and Kev gave him a blank look. ‘So?” Mickey said and took a drag of his smoke. 

“Didn’t think you’d end up with a house and a job and like…..normal.” Tommy said. 

“Hey!” Mickey shot out glaring at him. 

“Just sayin’” Tommy said. 

“I think what he means to say is you were a thug.” Kev said.

Mickey turned his head at him and smirked. 

“That’s not to say you weren’t a likable thug because you were.” Kev said with a hand up.

“Yep.” Tommy said.

“And now you’re married, with a job and a life and a house.” Kev opened his arms wide and said, “Come on man.”

Tommy nodded and Mickey took a drink of his beer. 

‘And a kid.’ He thought and smiled around his beer but it looked like a smirk to them. 

“Could have been way different, that’s all.” Tommy said and Mickey took a drag of his smoke.

“Why the fuck you thinking so hard about my life huh?" He said with a sneer. “Take care of your own fucked up shit.” 

Tommy looked down at his beer and Kev held up his hands. 

‘Ya, that’s right, I’m still a thug and don’t you fuckin’ forget it.’ He thought scowling and picked up his beer. 

 

Mickey closed the bar down and walked through the freezing cold to his truck.

“Fucking fucking fuck.” He shot out as the door creaked open.

He turned the key and shivered as the truck warmed up, he turned up the heat and hit the gas pedal. Even the steering wheel was frozen. 

Fuck it was cold.

Tommy and his big mouth was making him think. It felt like another life but it wasn’t that long ago he was in prison. He still had fucked up dreams about it, he’d wake up quick and he felt like his heart wasn’t beating for a second and he’d feel Ian next to him and breathe again. Those dreams were rough but the really bad ones were of Ian getting sick again, he’d dream that he’d take off and he couldn’t find him, Mickey felt his heart squeeze in his chest just thinking about the dreams. He knew Ian took care of that shit but it was still there all the time. 

Ian was good now but the kid was messed up and the question that kept coming into his head was, could Ian really deal with it if something happened, like Luke taking off again? Mickey shook his head. No, Ian was tougher than that. 

‘You were a thug. ‘He thought about what Kev said. 

“What the fuck is a likable thug? “ He said to himself and shook his head, Kev was just plain weird but he was pretty funny sometimes. 

He knew exactly what and who he was, an ex-con street thug who still skirted around the law every chance he got and he was going to take care of a messed up kid who liked music and Star Wars?

“Maaan.” He said to himself as he turned the corner toward home.

He pulled into the driveway and turned off the truck. He opened the door and dropped down to the ground, he almost stumbled as he slammed the door and smiled. He walked as quickly as he could up the walkway and his fingers froze on the keys as he unlocked the door, he turned them quickly and stepped into the warm house. 

He was quiet as he took off his coat walking through the dark house and sat down on the couch, he took off his boots and put his feet up on the coffee table. He was wired from the bar and the whiskey and knew he wouldn’t sleep for a while. 

‘Hm, maybe a quick blow job.’ He thought smiling imagining waking Ian up with his tongue. He shook his head and scowled when he remembered Ian had to be up in a couple hours to go to work. 

Could have been way different huh? No fucking shit. He should be dead about 10 times over and the only reason he wasn’t was Ian. 

He knew it but he had never heard anyone else say it out loud before. What they had was crazy and fun and everything to him and deep down he knew they had saved each other. Ian had saved him from becoming like his father and he was on a fucking fast track to being just like him. It wasn’t just that, when he got out of prison he was a fucking mess and Ian had been there still seeing past it and still seeing him somehow. He had married him on the spot when Sutter had told him marrying him was the only way Ian could go with him and that had changed everything in him. 

He had saved Ian from himself. The only person who could fuck up Ian was Ian, he thought way too much about shit and it fucked up his head. When Ian was young he fought hard for everything and it had cost him big time. Ian had been crazy about him and had almost lost himself trying to get him to wake the fuck up and realize he was crazy about him too. After Ian went to the hospital he was so different that Mickey barely knew how to be around him and Ian had pushed everyone and everything away, including him. It had taken years for him to come back to being himself, the Ian that wore his heart on his sleeve and fought for what he wanted. After they got married he had seen Ian keep other people at a distance, it was like a wall was there with and no one saw it but him. It had gone down over the past five year but it was still there sometimes if Ian felt threatened. Ian still had a hard time trusting himself but he tried so hard it made Mickey’s heart swell whenever he saw Ian take a leap with his heart like he did when he was young and Ian was taking a big fucking leap with Luke. 

Mickey shook his head and tried to clear it, between the whiskey and Tommy his head was starting to spin with memories and he was starting to think too much. He opened his eyes and they adjusted to the dim light, the walls were gone and they had the drywall to put up in the living room and then they’d start on the floor. It was going to be sweet when it was all done. There was a room off of the living room they didn’t know what to do with, they weren’t used to having more space than they needed. 

Mickey thought of Ian sitting with his knees up in their bed with his laptop sliding around his knees. 

‘Maybe an office? Ian could think too much in there.’ Mickey thought. 

Mickey froze when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, he shifted his eyes and saw Luke walking toward the chair with his coat on it. It barely made a whisper as he lifted the coat off of the chair and Mickey watched him put his coat on and turn toward the door. Mickey casually reached over to his coat and pulled out his smokes, Luke stopped and Mickey lifted one to his lips and scraped the lighter and the flame lit up the dark room. He brought the flame up to the smoke and inhaled and let the lighter go out. 

“Got someplace to be?” Mickey asked and let out the smoke. Luke turned to him with his head down.

“It’s fuckin cold out there man.” Mickey said and Luke didn’t answer. Mickey watched him and he didn’t move. 

“Alright.” Mickey said sitting up, he pulled his boots out from under the coffee table and shoved his feet in looking up at Luke to make sure he didn’t bolt. Mickey stood up grabbing his coat and up and pulled it on. Luke looked up at him in the dim light shaking his head 

“You’ll fucking freeze to death, where you fucking going?” Mickey asked in a rush. 

Luke didn’t answer and Mickey waved his arms out. 

“I need to know where we’re goin’ if I’m drivin’?” Mickey said and Luke didn’t answer. 

“Fine, you drive.” He said and shot a hand out heading for the door.

“I can’t drive.” Luke said. 

“Why the fuck not, you drunk?” He asked and zipped up his coat. 

“No.” Luke said in a shocked tone. 

“Well I am, let’s go. “He said and opened the door waving an arm out the door. 

“I don’t know how to drive.” Luke said.

“Well, holy fuck…’ He said as the cold him again. “You’re gonna learn.” He said locking the door and he headed for Ian’s car hitting the unlock button on his key ring. He got in the passenger seat and Luke came around the car and stood at the door with his head tilted. 

“Get in.” He said and waved his arm at him. Luke opened the door, Mickey handed him the keys and Luke looked at him like he had lost his mind. 

“It’s the only way we’re getting wherever you’re going.” Mickey said and shrugged. 

He watched Luke look over the steering wheel and lean over to put the key in the ignition, he turned the key and the engine started. Luke smiled and Mickey laughed under his breath. 

“Push the seat up.” Mickey said. “Shoulda brought a phone book, do they still make em?” He asked as Luke found the lever under the seat and pulled the seat all the way forward. 

“OK first thing.” Mickey said and hit his preset button on Ian’s radio and hard rock poured out of the speakers. Luke banged his head to the music and Mickey turned it up. 

“Gas go, break stop. “ Mickey said. 

“I know that part.” Luke said dryly and held the steering wheel. 

“Then go.” Mickey said and opened the window a crack to let the smoke out. 

“I can’t see you know.” Luke said.

“Sure you can, come on man it’s all you.” Mickey said and took a drag of his smoke and sat lower in the seat. 

“I’m 13.” Luke said and Mickey rolled his eyes. 

“Annnnd GO.” Mickey said. 

“You are drunk.” Luke said and Mickey snorted out a laugh. 

Luke put the car in drive with a shaky “OK” and stepped on the gas and Mickey relaxed when they went about 100 yards. He went forward with a grunt as Luke slammed on the brake.

“Take it easy man.” He said and Luke waved a hand at him like he was pushing him away. Mickey raised his eyebrows and smirked. 

‘Uh huh, that’s what I thought.’ Mickey said to himself and Luke turned the wheel back and forth, they swayed right and left.

“Did you find my whiskey?” Mickey said and Luke laughed shaking his head. 

“Good.” Mickey said 

“Just testing.” Luke said. 

“Test away.” He said and took the last drag of his smoke and opened the window to throw it out. He reached down and blasted the heat.

“This isn’t so hard.” Luke said. 

Mickey watched the houses go by faster and faster.

“So you’re trying to tell me you’re 13 and you’ve never driven a car?!”

“No” Luke said and tapped the brakes and slowed down to go around a corner. 

“You’re never hot wired a car?” Mickey said.

“No.” Luke said and sped up with a smile sitting back as far as he could and still be able to see. 

“You know how though right?” Mickey said.

“I saw it once.” Luke said and looked out the driver’s side window and dropped one hand like he’d been driving for years. 

“Well you’re gonna fucking learn.” Mickey said. 

Luke turned a corner and the tires screeched, Luke laughed low in his throat and Mickey watched him from the corner of his eye. 

“There’s a kid’s in there.” He thought and Luke banged his head to the music.

Luke turned down a bad street and Mickey kept his eyes open for trouble, Luke kept going into the worst part of Chicago and Mickey sat up straight in his seat. 

“What the fuck are we doing here?” Mickey said when Luke slowed down in front of an abandoned boarded up building. He put the car in park and reached for the door handle, Mickey reached his arm across his chest and stopped him.

“Luke.” Mickey said quietly.

“I left something.” Luke said and Mickey looked through the window around the building and scowled. 

“Alright, but you’re not going in there by yourself.” Mickey said and turned the car off pocketing the keys. 

“I’ll be fine.” Luke said and pushed at his arm.

“Oh ya?” Mickey said. 

“Ya.” Luke said.

Mickey smiled and raised his eyebrows.

“You got balls but you are not goin’ in there alone and that’s it, out.” Mickey said pointing to the door. 

He pushed his door open scanning the outside of the building. Luke got out quietly and Mickey waved his arm at him to bring him closer to him. Luke walked next to him and Mickey kept his eyes peeled for movement as he followed Luke around the building with his fists clenched. Luke stepped up into an empty doorway and Mickey stepped up next to him and held out an arm at every corner to stop him and look around. 

Luke stopped at a door that was on the hinges but had no knob and started to push it open. Mickey stepped forward and held an arm up. Luke stepped back and Mickey opened it slowly and waved Luke in when he was sure the room was clear. Mickey looked around in the dim light coming from the window. It was an abandoned apartment and they were standing in a kitchen with torn up linoleum and an ancient stove. 

The window had cardboard taped to where it was broken and Mickey saw the kitchen was old but there was no garbage around. He followed Luke into a small room with one small window and Luke opened the door to a closet, Mickey watched him in the dim street light pull a chair over and step up onto it. He reached up and took something down from the closet shelf and lifted his chin lowering it into his coat. Luke stepped down and left the chair where it was. He walked past him without looking at him and walked right out the door they had come through without waiting for him. 

Mickey knew what this place was, it was Luke’s escape hatch if shit got bad at home he’d come here. Mickey turned around and caught up to Luke and they made their way back outside. Mickey saw a shadow of a person and his lips went back in a snarl as he grabbed Luke’s coat and pulled him toward the car with his eyes on the shadow. He opened the door and shoved Luke in, slamming the door behind him and walked around the car with his eyes up, he looked up at the shadow as he got in taking the keys out of his pocket. The guy was at the front of the building and Mickey shoved the key in the ignition and turned it as Luke hit the gas. 

They sped past the shadow. 

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He said in a hiss. 

Mickey turned around and looked out the back window, the guy was gone and Mickey turned around and sat back giving Luke a long hard look. Luke drove quickly out of the area and slowed down when they were on a main road. 

“We goin’ back?” Mickey asked quietly and Luke nodded.

“You wanna tell me what’s goin’ on.” Mickey said.

Luke braked for a red light and unzipped his coat, Mickey saw something wood and long come out and he held it out.

“What’s that?” Mickey asked and Luke handed it to him, it looked like a little guitar. It had two strings over the front and even in the dim light Mickey could see it was shiny. 

“My violin.” Luke said quietly and Mickey looked over at him, he was looking through the windshield with look on his face like he was prepared to take shit for having it. 

“Huh, isn’t it supposed to have more strings like a guitar?” Mickey said and he saw Luke relax and turn to him.

“I haven’t had strings in a while.’ Luke said and the light turned green, Luke hit the gas with his eyes on the road. 

Mickey held it up in the light and asked “Where’d you get it?”

“I had a music teacher in second grade who loved classical music, from the second I heard it I loved the violin.” Luke said and turned the car perfectly onto the next street. 

“He taught me a couple things.” Luke said and Mickey saw Luke smile. The light from the streetlights took away his bruises and he saw what Luke was supposed to look like if he was a normal kid, smiling and talking while driving a car for the first time. 

“He gave it to me when I had to leave.” Luke said.

“Can you play it?” Mickey asked and Luke shrugged a shoulder. 

“Oh ya, how bout Metallica?” Mickey asked and Luke laughed. 

“Probably” Luke said with a huge smile. 

 

Mickey took off his jeans and lifted his shirt quietly in the dark, he sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands through his hair. Seeing the apartment had shaken him up, it was bad for an adult in that part of Chicago nevermind a kid. He had a couple places like that, he had gone there a lot when shit was bad at home and only person who had known about them was Ian. 

“Hey.” Ian said half asleep. 

Mickey felt his fingers on his back and brought his legs up onto the bed and turned into Ian as he brought the blankets up over him.

“Mm, you’re so cold.” Ian said and brought his arm around him. Mickey breathed him in and felt the cold bleed out of him. He felt Ian’s warm skin and found his mouth, Ian’s mouth moved against his and Mickey held his head and felt Ian’s hands move over his side. He pulled his mouth away and Ian’s eyes were half open and he brought his hand up to his face, Mickey closed his eyes and felt his fingers brush over his jaw.

“You OK?” Ian asked in a sleepy voice Mickey nodded and Ian’s hand came around his head and his fingers moved through his hair.

“I love you.” Mickey said, he felt Ian’s hand stop and Ian’s lips came back to his and kissed his sweetly. 

Mickey closed his eyes and felt Ian beside him and his hand started moving through his hair again, he brought his hand down to his on the bed and Mickey closed his fingers over his and held on tight thinking,

‘Everything would have been different if I didn’t have this.” 

 

Luke heard nothing while he dressed for the day, it was Sunday and he looked through the clothes and put a side a pair of jeans and a sweater for school tomorrow. Just the thought of school made him happy and he patted the clothes with a little smile. It was odd not to hear Ian and Mickey when he woke up and he knew he had slept later than usual, his little trip to the place where he kept his violin had been late. He had tried to stay awake but had dozed off at some point, he had listened carefully when he woke up and heard nothing. He had dressed in the dark and silently walked through the house. When Mickey moved he realized he must have been sitting there for a while because he hadn’t heard his him while he was awake. 

Driving was fun and Mickey had been really nice about his violin. He hadn’t thought it was weird or ‘gay’ like people usually did but then again Mickey was gay and not stereotypical at all. He wondered if he could play Metallica as he unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway. The notes of a Metallica song played through his head as he walked to the opening of the kitchen, he saw Mickey rubbing his fingers under his eyes sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee cup and an ashtray in front of him. Mickey pulled his fingers away and looked over at him. 

“Morning.” Luke said and Mickey waved a hand at him and nodded his head once. Luke hid a smile and walked over to the chair he sat in and sat down watching him through his eyelashes, he was twisting his head around blinking his eyes and Luke knew he had kept him awake with their adventure last night. Mickey took a long drink of coffee and set it down on the table with a grunt. He lit a cigarette with his eyes closed and Luke reached out to his mug and picked it up standing and walked around the table toward the coffee maker. 

“Stealing my coffee man?” Mickey asked and Luke shook his head and poured Mickey more coffee. 

“Hm”. Mickey grunted and Luke heard him hiss out the smoke. Luke turned a cup over for himself with a little nervous bubble in his stomach and poured a half a cup for himself. He put the pot back carefully and picked up the cups and walked back over to the table. 

Mickey was sitting back watching him.

“You drink coffee?” Mickey asked and Luke put Mickey’s coffee down in front of him with a smile. 

“Today I do.” Luke said and walked around to sit. 

They drank in silence and Luke didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Mickey brought his hands up in front of him and took a quick drag of his cigarette.

“There’s cereal in there.” He said gruffly. Luke got up and moved into the kitchen.

“Over the counter.” Mickey said and Luke opened the cabinet, there was a whole shelf of bright colored boxes.

“Hope you like cereal.” Mickey said dryly and Luke laughed, he picked out one that he particularly liked and brought it down to the counter. 

He remembered where the bowls were and opened that cabinet and chose two plastic bowls and brought them down picking up the box, he turned to the table and put them down turning back for the spoons and milk. He heard Mickey pick up the top bowl and heard it go down on the table as Luke opened the refrigerator, he had never seen so much food in his life and his eyes widened. He took it all in and lifted the big carton of milk and gave all of the food one last look before closing the door and carrying the carton with two hands to the table. Mickey held the cigarette in his teeth and reached out for the milk, Luke let it go when his hands came around it and Mickey shoved it onto the table. 

Mickey picked up the box and squinted his eyes at it while Luke walked around the table. 

“This any good?” he asked shaking the box.

“You’ve never had it?” Luke asked and Mickey smirked at him. 

“It’s a kid cereal.” Mickey said. “I was never a kid.” He added and rolled his eyes smiling. 

“Ya it’s really good.” Luke said with a laugh. “Pure sugar and no nutritional value whatsoever.”

“Ya? ” Mickey said and tilted his head opening it. He leaned over and shook cereal into Luke’s bowl, Luke picked up the milk and poured it over his cereal while Mickey dumped cereal into his bowl, he pushed the milk over and Mickey picked it up.

“Sugar’s good for hangover’s” Luke said lightly and shoved cereal into his mouth. 

“Oh ya? Mickey said as he poured milk. 

Luke nodded.

“Get drunk a lot do ya?” Mickey said as he stirred his cereal. 

“Back in the day.” Luke said seriously and Mickey laughed and took big bite of the brightly colored cereal and grunted with a nod.

“Hmph.” He grumbled. 

“Ya.” Luke said. 

“What’s the plan for today?” Mickey asked nodding his chin at him. “Any more trips to the arm pit of Chicago?” He asked with his eyes narrowing and his tongue sliding in his cheek.

“No, I’m good.” He said shaking his head. “Where’s Ian?" 

“Work.” Mickey said and picked up a spoonful of cereal. “It’s just you and me kid.” He said and Luke smiled.

Luke was happy spending time with either of them but Mickey was so fun, he looked at the clock and saw it wasn’t even 8 am. He knew he had to have woken up Ian last night. 

“Was he mad?” He asked. 

“Huh? Who?” Mickey asked and furrowed his eyebrows.

Mickey looked up at him and his eyes changed from half asleep to focused and clear. 

“No he wasn’t mad.” Mickey said firmly and Luke looked down at his cereal. 

“Hey.” Mickey said quietly and Luke heard the tones ring through his voice. Luke took a breath and looked up at him. 

“We might get mad sometimes.” Mickey said with a shrug of his shoulder. “That’s part of the deal.” Mickey sat back and put his arm down on the table looking straight at him.

“People get pissed, that’s just gonna happen and especially with us.” Mickey said with a twist of his head and sat forward. 

“But as long as you’re in this house, no one is going to hurt you.” Mickey bit his lower lip and nodded his head down. His tone was hard but he had one tone for the first time since Luke had met him, pure honesty was in his voice. 

Luke felt pressure behind his eyes and looked down to his lap. Mickey didn’t move until he nodded his head slightly. 

He heard Mickey crunching on cereal and picked up his spoon. 

“This is pretty good.” He heard and Mickey slurped up milk. 

Luke giggled and nodded. “Told you.” He said. 

“So, we gotta go to the Gallghers and pick up a dresser and then we’re teaching you how to hotwire a car.” Mickey said pointing his spoon at him. 

“Hmph” Luke said around his cereal nodding. 

“And no fucking Star Wars.” Mickey said sitting back. 

Luke smiled and said, “Not even the new one?” around his cereal. Mickey gave him a dirty look but smiled after Luke laughed with his mouth open and milk spilled down his chin.

 

They pulled up the Gallagher house and Mickey shoved the car into park. Luke opened the door and dropped to the ground. Mickey came around the car and Luke slammed the door turning and saw a guy open the door and he walked past them without looking at them. 

Mickey scoffed and took the steps two at a time and Luke hurried up the steps and stood next to him watching the man walk away quickly. 

“Don’t ask.” Mickey said and pounded on the door. Fiona opened it and looked confused.

“Hey?” She said and looked down at Luke. Her face changed and she stepped back and waved them in bringing her sweater around her tighter. 

“Hey.” Mickey said stepping in. 

“Mornin’” She said and smiled at him. He felt the warmth of her smile and her sweet tone. 

“Hi.” Luke said and Fiona walked into the kitchen and called out,

“It’s by the table.”

Luke saw a small dresser standing alone between the two rooms. It had three drawers and looked like it was old and had been used a lot. Luke heard hard footsteps and saw a skinny guy who looked really young step down into the kitchen. 

“Hey man.” Mickey said and he grunted over at Mickey. Luke walked over and Mickey put his hand up.

“I got it.” Mickey said and Luke put his hands on the dresser firmly and Mickey let out a long sigh. 

“What are you doing here?” He heard, the voice had a hard edge and Luke turned his head. He had dark hair and blue eyes and was looking between him and Mickey with a mug in his hand. He had on sweatpants and a t-shirt and was almost as skinny as him. 

“Picking shit up.” Mickey said and lifted his side, Luke lifted his side and he felt the pain shoot through his chest and closed his eyes. The dresser was dropped on Mickey’s side and braced the side he was holding with one hand. 

“Put it the fuck down.” Mickey said firmly and he opened his eyes. Mickey was looking down at him with steady eyes. He let the dresser go and Mickey reached across his chest to hold the other corner lowering it back to the floor. He took long breathes and tried not to push his hand into his chest. 

“I got it.” He heard. “Hey.” He nodded to him and put his coffee down on the table. They lifted it easily and headed for the door, Luke panted and did put his hand to his chest. They lowered it by the door and Mickey was shaking his head, Luke walked over and Mickey glared down at him.

“Get the door.” Mickey said and Luke nodded and took in a short steady breathes. 

“Luke right?” The guy said and he nodded again and felt a wave of dizziness. He was pulling on his coat and shoved his feet into shoes looking over at him with clear blue eyes. Luke heard he had no guile in his voice at all, what you see is what you get with him. 

They picked up the dresser and Luke walked behind them to the door and opened it stepping back, they moved down the stairs with Mickey at the bottom. Luke walked down ahead of them and pulled open the latch on the truck and went down with a thud. They shoved it into the truck and Mickey slammed it back up and headed for the driver side door, Luke started for the passenger side and the guy opened the door and held it open. Luke nodded his thanks and moved into the truck slowly, he got in next to him and slammed the door. 

“Jesus kid.” Mickey said with hard eyes and turned the key. The engine roared to life and Luke felt the pain start to ease. 

“The fuck time is it.” The guy said beside him wearily.

“Like 9.” Mickey said. 

“Fuck man.” He said and reached over for the pack of cigarettes on the dashboard. Luke didn’t flinch as he felt his leg brush against his. He looked up at him as he lit the cigarette quickly and opened the window a crack and blew smoke up into it. 

“Where’s Ian?” he asked. Luke heard the same tone he heard the few times he had spoken, it was hard with no softness in it at all. 

Carl, Ian’s cop brother he realized. 

“Work.” Mickey shot out and Luke heard the worry behind the harsh tone. 

“How do you know so many cops?” He asked. Mickey shook his head and raised a hand.

“Fucked if I know man.” And he heard Carl laugh low in his throat. 

“You like guns?” Carl asked lifting one side of his mouth in a smile and looked down at him bracing his elbow on the window.

Luke shrugged and Carl nodded his head.

“Come by sometime and I’ll take you shooting.” He said. 

“Shoot a gun?” Luke asked and turned his head at Carl.

“Ya man what are you like 11?” Carl asked.

“13” He said.

Carl shook his head. “Maan, I was into heavy artillery at that age.” 

“Right.” Mickey said and pulled the truck in front of their house. Carl took a last drag as he pulled the door handle and dropped down onto the ground and threw the butt away. 

They opened the back and Mickey threw his keys at Luke, he caught them and looked down at them with surprise. 

“Huh.” He said and smiled. Maybe he could try baseball, he thought and turned toward the door to unlock it for them and heard Mickey say,

“Ian’s gonna fucking kill me.” He heard his tone, it was light and matter of fact, Mickey had accepted his forthcoming death with dignity. Luke opened the door for them to bring in his dresser. 

 

Mickey threw the bread on the counter and looked over at Luke, he had caved and they were watching the new Star Wars but Luke was pretty fucking happy and sat on the couch in his usual spot. Mickey took out the ham and cheese and called out to Luke.

“You like mayonnaise?” He looked up when Luke didn’t answer, he had his head tilted and was listening to something. 

“Someone’s here.” Luke said.

“Huh?” He said and listened, he didn’t hear anything but the TV.

“James.” Luke said and Mickey brought a hand up, he could tell who it was by the car? Fuck that was freaky. He moved to the front window, pushed open the blind and sure enough Frick was climbing out of his truck.

“Fuckin A, you’re like a human security system.” Mickey said and Luke giggled quietly. 

“Shit.” He said and walked toward the door, he unlocked it as Sutter stepped up to the door.

“Hey.” He said and walked away from the door. 

“Hi Luke.” He said.

“Hi.” Luke said as Mickey walked back to the kitchen. 

“Shows up for food.” Mickey said with a smirk.

“Well ya!” Frick said and smiled. Frick looked around and nodded.

“Comin’ along.” He said and put his hands on his hips. Luke was right he did hang out with too many cops he thought and grabbed the mayo and mustard and kicked the door close. He glanced over at Frick as he looked around and his eyes landed on Luke. There was something there when he looked at him and he didn’t know for sure but he had a feeling Frick knew firsthand what Luke had been through.

“Hey man, mayo?” He called out to Luke.

“Yes please.” He said. He gave Frick a hard look and he nodded. Mickey looked away and pulled out the bread. 

“Ooooo Star Wars.” Frick said and Mickey shook his head. He saw Frick take off his coat and put it down over the arm rest of the couch and sit down with Luke with a smile, Luke was eyeing Frick but he didn’t ask him why he was here.

‘The kid’s no joke in the smarts department.’ He thought. 

“How are you?” Luke asked and Frick turned to him and smiled.

“I’m good, thanks. How bout you? They treatin’ you alright?” He asked.

“Ya.” Luke said nodding and Frick snorted a laugh, Mickey scowled and shrugged but Frick was looking at Luke. 

“They’re good people.” Frick said.

“Yep.” Luke said and Frick smiled and brought an arm up over the couch. Mickey watched Luke and he didn’t flinch away, he brought his leg up and faced him. Mickey turned to the fridge for the orange juice.

“I wanted to come by and let you know I wasn’t able to find a relative.” Frick said and Mickey’s heart ached in his chest, Luke was totally alone. 

“OK, thank you.” Luke said and Mickey twisted the cap off the orange juice and took a long drink. 

“I also wanted to let you know the people who did this won’t be bothering you again.” Frick said and he saw Luke’s face fall and his eyes go down. 

“How long?” Mickey said and Frick turned to him. 

“Not long enough.” He said with an edge and Mickey nodded and twisted up his mouth. He knew how to make sure they were never heard from again and he felt his blood boil. They’ll probably be out in 6 months. 

‘Fuck that.” Mickey thought and brought the orange juice down to the counter. Luke looked up and he saw he was relieved that they wouldn’t be around but his eyes shifted away from his. 

“It’s all good Luke, we have security.” he said and Luke smiled a little. Mickey tilted his head and flashed him a huge smile bringing up the orange juice.

“Ahhh, security?” Frick said and Mickey ignored him, he was always bitching at him about his guns.

“Ya, it’s a security system we just got.” Mickey said as he took another drink and Luke smiled and dropped his chin to his chest but his eyes were full of laughter. 

Mickey opened the cabinet for the big cup Luke used and held it pouring his orange juice. 

“Where do I go now?” Luke asked quietly and Mickey lowered the jug.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He said and walked to the table and put down the cup in his spot, he turned around quickly and pulled open the fridge and shoved the orange juice back inside. 

“OK.” He heard Luke say.

“You want a beer?” He asked Frick and looked up. Frick had his hand over his mouth but he could tell he was smiling by his eyes and Luke was sitting toward the television calmly watching the Millennium Falcon fly through space. 

“What?” he said with a scowl and Frick shook his head and turned his eyes to watch the television.

 

Luke was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, they had eaten Mickey’s sandwiches and Mickey had even thrown a bag of chips on the table as a side dish. 

“Drywall is nothin’ it’s the floor I’m worried about.” Mickey said.

“Ya, I’ve done it, I can swing by and give you a hand.”

“Oh ya? Hm. I’m not sure when we’re doin’ it.” Mickey said. 

He yawned hugely and blinked his eyes. 

“You need a nap.” James said holding his head on his fist.

“Ya I think so.” Luke said lightly and smiled. 

“I wonder why.” Mickey said with sarcasm and Luke giggled. He saw Mickey’s eyes crinkle up and there was a soft look in his eyes. Luke stood up and waved to them and Mickey patted his arm as he walked by, Luke smiled at him and headed straight for his room. 

He took off his glasses and put them carefully on the dresser that was now in his room, he took the three steps to the bed and fell onto it not bothering with the blankets. His last thought before he fell asleep was ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ 

 

Sutter waited and watched Mickey hold up a hand, he had his head turned and his eyebrows came together, he stood up and walked quietly into the hallway. Sutter smiled, Mickey and Luke were polar opposites and he had worried a little that Ian would be the only one who wanted him to stay when it came right down to it. Mickey would do anything for Ian and he would stay but Sutter felt his anxiety ease when he had heard Mickey say that Luke was staying in a steel tone, Luke had smiled and looked at Mickey like he was Superman or in Luke’s case Hans Solo. 

He had had to bite his cheek not to burst out laughing when Mickey had simply stated he wasn’t leaving and Luke had said OK, Mickey had just moved on to the next thing like it was totally settled. Done and done with no discussion or afterthought, as far as Mickey was concerned the kid was home. 

Luke was always smiling or laughing at something Mickey said or did and Mickey was acting like a parent already, he knew about Mickey’s son and kept an eye on him. The mother knew Mickey was alive but didn’t want his son to have anything to do with him except for the money he sent of course. 

Mickey came back into the room and sat down. 

“Out like a light.” Mickey said and lifted his beer.

“Did he close the door?” Sutter asked and Mickey stopped his beer at his lips.

“No I did” Mickey said and turned his head at him and lifted his beer with his eyes on his. 

“That’s a good sign.” Sutter said and moved his beer around the table.

“Ya?” Mickey said. “Why’s that?”

“He feels safe.” Sutter said and shrugged. 

“Mm.” Mickey said and Sutter smiled and stood up.

“Thanks for lunch.” He said and walked to the trash and dropped his empty beer bottle. 

“Hm.” Mickey said and Sutter walked through the room and grabbed up his coat. 

“He’s a great kid.” He said with a laugh.

“Ya he is.” Mickey said and stood up crossing his arms over his chest.

‘Uh oh.” He thought.

“You know about this shit, like the door thing?” Mickey asked. 

“Well its basic psychology, I know some things.” Sutter said trying to throw Mickey off but his eyes were steady on his.

“So if we asked you stuff, that’d be OK?” Mickey said and Sutter let out a breath and nodded.

“Of course, call anytime.” He said and he caught Mickey’s knowing look before he turned away. 

“Later.” Mickey said and Sutter walked to the door. 

“Bye Mick” he said with a smile and closed the door behind him. 

He didn’t get past Mickey on that one but he supposed it was fair, he knew everything about Mickey’s life from the moment he broke out of prison. He had been at both weddings and considered them both a part of his family. The only person Mickey would ever tell was Ian and he was OK with that. His past was a closely held secret and it was hard to part with, he had only ever told Ginny. He had had some bad moments through his years with the FBI when he had worked with kids, his partners had chalked it up to him being a parent and they didn’t push. 

They were a pair, he thought and Sutter had heard Mickey’s twang when Luke had said. “Ya.” He laughed to himself climbing into his SUV, Luke was already picking up Mickey’s mannerisms and if anyone could get Luke to come out of his shell it was Mickey, he thought and turned the key. 

“Who woulda thought it.” He said to himself and thought of Jas. Mickey was a lot like Jas and Sutter knew that’s why he had taken an interest in the case and kept it while they had been in protection. 

Sutter looked over at the little house one more time before he pulled away. He was definitely OK with them knowing and the fact that Mickey had asked for his help for only the second time in five years, Sutter didn’t have one doubt Mickey was going to make sure Luke was taken care of no matter what. 

 

Luke walked quickly through the hall of the school with Ian, he had a backpack with two note books and a bunch of pencils. He had smiled as soon as they pulled up and hadn’t stopped smiling once. Ian opened the door to the office and Luke walked through it, Ian came up behind him and they walked up to the counter. It was low enough for him to see over and he looked around at all the busy people, there were so many of them. He felt a slice of panic but pushed it down by focusing on the counter and holding the straps of his backpack. 

“Can I help you?” A woman’s voice said, she was bored, not happy and had about 14 cats Luke thought as he sneezed. 

“Bless you.” Ian said and Luke blinked his eyes and tried to breathe through his mouth. 

“Thank you.” He said automatically and he glanced up at the cat hoarder and she looked at him with pity.

“Ya hi, I called to enroll my son.” Ian said.

“Your son?!” The woman said with judgement and distain. 

“Well you know we were young and in love…” Ian said trailing off. 

“Is he OK?” She asked whispering like he wasn’t standing right there. Luke’s eyes hardened and he took a breath. 

‘You’re not ruining this for me cat lady.’ He thought firmly. 

“Bad skateboard accident, he’s a handful and it’s just me and him now.” Ian said sadly and smiled at her with big puppy dog eyes. 

She blinked and her whole face changed. 

“What’s his name?” She said and her tone was pure sugar and light and Luke looked at the counter and rolled his eyes. 

“Luke.” Ian said. 

“That’s beautiful.” She said and Luke looked up at her, her tone was caramel and sex. 

“Jeez.” popped out of his mouth and Ian said. “L.U.K.E.” and gave him a surprised look when she lowered her head to write it down. 

Luke rolled his eyes. 

“Last name?” She asked.

“Gallagher, that’s G. A..

‘Gallagher? Luke Gallagher, hm. ‘ He thought. 

“OK I just need his birth certificate and his immunization.” She said.

“Ohhh. Gawd.” Ian said and smacked his head. “I knew I was forgetting something.” 

Luke’s deception alarm blared in his head. ‘Whoooop….whoooop….beep, beep.’

“Oh I can’t enroll him without a birth certificate.” She said and Luke’s heart beat faster.

Ian sputtered, “No I have that, just not the immunizations.” Ian said in honeyed tones and tsked. 

“That’s OK just get it to us as soon as you can.” She said and smiled at him leaning over the counter. Her cleavage was right in his face and so was the cat hair, he sneezed on her bared cleavage and Ian let out a gasp, Luke heard the laugh under it Ian was trying to hide. 

“Oh my gosh.” Ian gushed “I’m so sorry.” Ian reached over the counter for a tissue, he blotted her cleavage and she purred like a cat she was so very fond. 

“No problem.” She said in a silky tone. Ian handed him a tissue with laughing eyes and Luke hid his smile behind the tissue. 

“Thank you.” He said and realized he had giggled it, he pretended to sneeze. 

“This weather ya know.” Ian said and reached in his back pocket. “Birth certificate and my ID, anything else?” 

“No you’re just fine.” She said and Luke saw her wink at Ian as she walked away. Ian whipped his head and he stomped his foot laughing quietly. 

“Cat hair up my nose.” He said muffled against the tissue. 

“You’re allergic to cats?” Ian asked when he had stopped laughing. 

“When you have 14 of them I am.” Luke said and Ian busted up laughing, Luke giggled and wiped his nose. 

He saw cat lady/woman on the prowl walking toward them

“Cat lady 10 o’clock!” He whispered and Ian whipped out another tissue and shoved it at him laughing. 

“All set. “She said and looked down at him with sparkly eyes.” You stay away from that skateboard.” Her tone screamed I AM ONLY TALKING TO YOU TO IMPRESS HIM. 

“Ya OK.” He muttered and Ian’s head whipped around to him, his eyes were wide his mouth opened. 

“He’s a handful.” Ian said and stepped back grabbing Luke’s backpack and he was pulled back with it. 

“Room number?” Ian said dragging him.

“212.” She said. “I have a number for you.” She said and Luke tilted his head.

“Can’t you tell he’s gaaa....” He said as he was being dragged into the hallway. 

“Thanks!” Ian said loudly to drown him out and the door slammed closed. 

Ian crossed his arms and lifted his head. “You choose NOW to start talking? Ian asked. 

Luke smiled and shrugged. Ian laughed and grabbed his shoulder turning him around. 

“Come on.” Ian said and laughed. “Right on her tits” Ian laughed out and Luke giggled.

“Gallagher?” Luke said as they walked up to room 212.

“Ya, it was the only way. “ Ian said and Luke heard the nervousness in his voice. “To register you.” He said and his hands moved through the air. 

“Luke Gallagher." Luke said and Ian smiled. "I like it.” 

“OK man this is it, you good?” Ian asked as they stopped in front of the door. 

“Yes.” Luke said.

“Got your phone?” Ian asked. They had given him a small black phone with both their numbers programmed in.

“Yes, in my bag.” He said and pulled on the strap. 

“You know what bus to get on?” Ian asked.

“25” Luke said.

“I can pick you up.” Ian said

Luke shook his head. 

“OK.” Ian said fidgeting with his ring. 

“Thank you.” Luke said firmly. 

Ian tilted his head and nodded. 

“You’re welcome.” Ian said and shook his head looking away letting out a long breath. 

“Alright, don’t get arrested on your first day.” Ian said. 

“I promise.” He said with a laugh. 

‘What are immunizations?” He asked as Ian walked away.

Ian turned around and walked backwards away from him. 

“Ahhhh shots?!" Ian said with a pained look on his face. Luke’s whole body went limp, shots as in plural.

Luke rolled his eyes and Ian laughed turning back around. 

“Greaat.” He said under his breath and knocked politely on the wood door and turned the way Ian had gone and he was waiting at the corner of the hallway watching him. The door opened and Ian waved to him, he waved back and Ian smiled and disappeared around the corner. 

 

“You fucking did not” Mickey laughed out and Luke nodded laughing. 

“Achoo, all over her tits." Ian said laughing. Mickey laughed so hard he almost knocked over his beer and wiped at his eyes as they teared up and giggled with Ian and Luke laughed at Mickey giggling.

“And then..” Ian said. 

“There’s more?” Mickey said and Luke giggled at the surprised look on his face. 

“He says and I quote “Can’t you tell he’s gay? “ Ian said and Mickey burst out laughing looking at him.

They all giggled uncontrollably until Ian held up a hand. 

“There’s more.” Ian said. 

“Nuh uh.” Mickey said and shook his head. 

“I swear, when she tried to talk to him…”

“To get on your good side.” He said. 

“He said ‘Ya OK?!” Ian mimicked him and Mickey’s head turned to him with his eyes wide laughing long and hard. 

“Oh my God, it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” Ian said. Mickey laughed and drank his beer looking at Ian with a soft look. 

“It wasn’t as funny as Ian though.” He said and they both turned to him. Luke changed his voice to get deeper tone. 

“I’m here to enroll my son.” He said and mimicked Ian. 

Their mouths dropped open at his tone and he giggled and went on.

“Oh ya know we were young and in love…” He said and winked. 

They both laughed and Luke changed his voice to high and shrilly.

“That’s a beautiful name.” He said batting his eyelashes. 

Mickey laughed and Ian said, “She sounded just like that.”

“Stay away from that skateboard.” He said and brought out her saccharine fake tone. 

“Oh Gawd.” Luke said and smacked his head. “I knew I forgot something.” He said and brought out the lie in his tone and giggled while they clapped and whistled.

“Shit, you should be a criminal.” Mickey said. “You’d fucking clean up.” 

“Ya?” He said and Ian giggled picking up his empty plate. Luke picked his up and followed him to the sink. 

“I know how to hot wire a car now.” He said.

“You know what?” Ian said quietly but with a steel edge and he looked up at him. He was looking over at Mickey still at the table. 

“What?” Mickey said and twisted up his face. 

Mickey motioned with his beer and said, “The kid didn’t know how so..” Mickey shrugged and tipped back his beer glaring back at Ian. 

“I can forget.” Luke said and they ignored him. 

Ian crossed his arms and Mickey turned his head at him and gave him a hard look.

“Who’s car did you use?” Ian asked and tilted his head. 

Mickey smirked and shrugged.

 

Ian grunted and Mickey held up a hand. ”I put it all back.” He said and Ian nodded with a hard smile.

‘Oh shit.” Luke thought when he saw Ian’s face and took a step back. 

“Come on man its fine.” Mickey said. 

“Did you replace the steering column?” Ian asked and Mickey lifted a hand and Ian swung his arms out. 

“You’re taking my car to get it fixed tomorrow.” Ian said in the same calm steel tone. 

“Alright, jeez man.” Mickey said and took a long drink of his beer and looked at Luke, he smiled around his beer and rolled his eyes. 

Luke looked up at Ian and he was calmly opening the freezer. 

“Ice cream?” Ian asked with a smile and looked back and forth between them, they both looked at him waiting for an answer. 

“What kind?” He asked and Ian turned his head and called out 3 flavors as Mickey laughed and lifted his eyebrows at him tipping up his beer. 

 

Luke woke up every day that week and listened to Mickey and Ian in the kitchen, he’d roll on his back and stare at the blurry white ceiling focusing on their voices. Mickey was right, they did get pissed at each other a lot but it came and went quickly and usually ended in a stale mate. They were both strong willed that’s for sure but he never felt it directed at him, even the first time when he thought it was about him, Mickey’s words had come back to him.

“As long as you’re in this house no one will hurt you.” He had listened to his voice in in head and calmed down. It had turned out Ian was angry Mickey had ripped out the steering column. 

It was him that tore out the steering column but they hadn’t mentioned that to Ian. 

He stood up and walked to the dresser and put on his glasses, he found his sweat pants and stepped into them, they a little tighter today. He was gaining weight and it was no wonder, all he did was eat and read listening to his MP3 player. Someone in the Gallagher house had been into grunge and he was living in the angsty 90’s at the moment and he loved the slow sad songs with all that emotion pouring out. He heard the twang of a guitar in his head as he opened the door and walked through the hallway and smelled bacon, yes!

“Hey.” He said and Ian smiled over at him at the stove.

“Mornin” Ian said. “Bacon.” 

“I smelled.” Luke said and opened the fridge, he always smiled when he saw all the food and today was no different. He grabbed the juice and walked behind Ian to get a cup from the cabinet. 

“Shit, I gotta go.” Mickey said looking at his phone and standing up. “Fuck” Mickey said and walked over to Ian.

Luke rested the cup down and opened the juice. 

“But it’s bacon.” Ian said and Mickey smiled at him and nodded. 

“Save me some.” Mickey said and brushed his hand over Ian’s hair. 

“Alright.” Ian said with a sigh. “I’m not promising anything though” Ian said and scrunched up his nose, Mickey’s whole face softened and he brought Ian’s lips down to his. 

“Mm I love you, bye kid.” Mickey said as he waved at Luke walking back to his chair and pulled on his coat. 

“Bye.” Luke said and poured his juice into the big cup. 

“I love you too. Alright alright, we’ll save you some bacon.” Ian said shaking his head. Mickey giggled and Ian smiled at him. 

“Later.” He said and Ian watched him walk out. 

“Bye.” Ian said softly and Mickey looked back before he closed the door with a big smile. Luke drank from his big cup and walked around to the table with the orange juice, he put it down as he sat in his chair. It was getting easier and easier for him to talk to them and they laughed a lot. He had been thinking about taking an extra music class but was still stalling about talking to them about it. 

“What’s up?” He heard and looked up, Ian was carrying two plates over to the table and put one down in front of him. 

“Thank you.” He said. Ian nodded and sat down, he poured himself orange juice and looked over the rim at him.

“Nothing.” He said and shook his head. 

“OK.” Ian said and picked up a piece of bacon and chewed.

“Who liked grunge?” he asked pushing his fork into scrambled eggs. 

“Huh, oh ahh Lip.” He said with a smile and a nod. “He loved that shit.” 

“It’s really interesting.” Luke said. 

“Hmph.” Ian said and ate his eggs. 

Ian looked at him with steady eyes and he looked down at his eggs.

“This is good.” He said and Ian nodded. 

Luke looked away and looked over the walls. 

Luke felt his eyes on him and cracked. “Alright, jeez.” He said and Ian smiled. Luke was shy about asking for anything and Ian would sit quietly and wait for him to speak. 

“There’s a music program.” He said. 

“Oh ya?” Ian said and smiled around his bacon. 

“But it’s after school.” He said.

“They have a late bus don’t they?” Ian asked and picked up his orange juice and his steady probing eyes were on his. 

“Yes.” He said and pushed at his eggs with his fork. 

Ian waited with his infuriating patience.

“It’s after school and I can’t help with the house.” He said carefully and let out a breath. 

“Oh hm.” Ian said and he pushed at his eggs. “You only have like 100 bucks left, you can just do weekends.” Luke looked up at him and Ian's kind patient eyes looked back at him. 

“That will take longer.” He said.

“You goin’ somewhere?” Ian asked and smiled.

“No.” He said. 

“Good.” Ian said and picked his drink. 

“You sounded just like Mickey when you said that.” He said. 

“Or does he sound like me. Hmm?” Ian said with wide eyes and a smile and drank his orange juice. 

 

Mickey walked through the front door whipping off his scarf, Ian was in the kitchen and Luke was sitting at the table with a pile of books around him. 

“Hey.” He said. 

“Hey.” Ian said with a smile and chopping at the cutting board, Mickey took off his coat and threw it on the chair in the corner as he walked over to the refrigerator. He looked over at Luke as he walked and saw he was reading and writing something in a notebook with a serious look on his face. 

“Almost done.” He said and glanced up at Mickey with a little smile. His face was healed except for his cheek but it looked like a shadow and would be gone in a couple of days. He opened the fridge and saw his beer had been moved to the shelf door and scowled, he saw there was more fucking food. He shook his head and grabbed a beer but did see Ian had saved him some bacon, he kicked the door closed twisting off the cap and tossing it into the trash. He came up behind Ian and squeezed his waist kissing his jaw, Ian turned his head and leaned in for a long kiss. 

“Hm.” He murmured and felt the rush of heat and happiness from Ian.

Ian pulled his lips away smiling and he smacked a kiss on his lips with a grunt. 

“Heidi’s coming to dinner.” Ian said and Mickey smiled. Heidi had been on a cruise with Mandy for two weeks, it was a thing they did every year and they had only come home yesterday. 

“Oh ya? ” He said. 

Ian nodded and ate a piece of tomato. Mickey saw the big bowl of salad, Ian was crazy about the kid having vegetables but whatever Ian had made smelled really good and he could ignore the salad. He turned around and leaned against the counter. Luke was closing his books and stacking them neatly together, he stood up and picked them all up and headed toward his room. 

“Did that say Shakespeare?” Mickey said with a shake of his head. 

“Ya and he’s reading it for fun!” Ian said and Mickey scoffed.

“Really.” Ian said and shook his head. 

“Huh.” Mickey said, he watched Luke come back and lift the bowl of salad and carry it over to the table.

“Shakespeare huh?” Mickey said. Luke smiled and nodded. 

“I like it. You’d like it.” He said with a grin. 

“Think so?” He said and smiled when Luke’s face lit up.

“Oh ya, it’s all structure like math underneath but on top is all emotion.” Luke said and came back into the kitchen. 

“They say one thing and mean something else entirely.” Luke said and Ian laughed beside him, Mickey glanced over and Ian shrugged. 

“Sounds like I would.” He said and put his beer down to open the cabinet for the plates.

Luke came forward and said, “Ya, it’s all prose and poetry.” 

“Uh huh.” He said and lowered the plates into Luke’s hands. He turned around and he looked at Ian as his head went back, Ian smiled and Luke went on.

“Lots of sword fights.” Luke said and Mickey smiled.

“Weapons?” He asked and Luke laughed lightly putting the plates down. Mickey pushed off the counter and opened the drawer, he grabbed a handful of forks and walked behind Luke.

“Lots of blood and everybody dies.” Luke said seriously. 

Mickey smiled and put the forks down and sat in his chair, Luke walked around him and sat in his chair picking up the forks and set them out carefully at each plate. 

“Where the fuck did this kid come from.” He thought. He was like a different kid than the one who had come in beaten and broken, he talked now and smiled all the time. He was still polite and would be on guard when they left the house but when they were here he was almost like any other kid. 

‘Almost but not really though.’ He thought. 

“Someone’s here.” Luke said and Mickey smiled looking over to Ian, he was already smiling toward the door. 

There was a light tapping and a big “Helllooo”

He stood up and moved quickly to the door, he unlocked it and he was almost knocked over by her running hug. 

“Heeeyy.” He said and she bounced in his arms.

“Hey!” Ian said behind him and Heidi let him go. 

She hugged Ian and giggled. “I missed you!” She said.

“Ohhh we missed you too!” Ian said and lifted his head, Mickey closed the door locking it again. 

“You should have come, we had an ammmazzzing time. Sun, sand, mojito’s…ahhh….” She trailed off with an angelic look on her face.

“A cabana boy or three.” She added with a sly look. Mickey sputtered crossing his arms and Ian let out a big laugh. 

Heidi turned toward the table and smiled, Luke had stood up and walked toward them. Mickey did a double take, he was staring at Heidi with a strange look in his eyes. 

“Are you Luke?” Heidi asked with a tilt of her head. 

“I am.” Luke said in a very firm silky tone. 

Mickey looked at Ian and Ian was looking at Luke like he had never seen him before.

“Are you Heidi?” Luke said with a tilt of his head.

“I am.” Heidi said and they both smiled. 

‘Da fuck?’ Mickey thought and Ian looked over at him with a blank look, Mickey shook his head and shrugged. 

Heidi walked over to him and Ian took a step to stop her, Luke was still nervous with new people but Ian stopped when Luke didn’t move away. 

“Well, aren’t you the handsome one.” Heidi said and Luke stared up at her with a big beautiful smile. 

Ian’s mouth dropped opened and Mickey shoved at his shoulder.

“Huh?” He said and Mickey motioned to the kitchen with his eyes wide. He pushed him by his arm and Ian started walking. 

“Thank you.” Luke said and Mickey saw a blush but he didn’t look away from her. Heidi and Luke turned toward the kitchen and Mickey saw Luke’s eyes and recognized that look. 

‘Wait, what?!’ He thought and grabbed his beer from the table. Ian walked into the kitchen his eyes still on them and opened the door, he kicked it closed and brought two beers to the table for him and Heidi. 

“We had the best time EVER.” She said dramatically draping he coat over the back of her chair and Ian smiled smacking a kiss on her cheek as he put the beer down in front of her as she sat down 

“Aww, love. I missed you too.” She said opening her beer. “We drank, we ate, we partied til dawn. I’m going to need a year to recover.”

“You say that every year.” Ian said with a laugh turning his head to her as he headed back to the stove and pulled on oven mitts, he opened it and pulled out a big tray.

“Is that….” Heidi said with her eyes wide.

“Mm hmm.” Ian said and Heidi clapped. 

“Lasagna? No fucking way!” He said.

“Yep.” Ian said and brought the tray over to the table. 

“Ohhh lasagna, how I have missed you.” Heidi said and Ian lowered it to the table. 

“Yeeess” He said. Ian could cook anything but his lasagna was fucking legendary. He picked up his fork and licked his lips. 

“Mmmm.” Luke murmured taking a deep breath. Ian smiled and picked up Luke’s plate, he gave him a huge piece and sat down. 

“Woooow.” Luke said and Ian licked sauce off of his finger and smiled at him. 

“Gimme.” Mickey said and reached for the serving spoon. 

“HEY.” Heidi said and picked up her fork and pointed it at his hand. He weighed his options and decided it was worth a stab and dug into the lasagna. 

“Hey, hey.” Ian said. Mickey laughed low in his throat and nodded at her smirking, she scowled at him giving him a dirty look. 

“Fine.” She said and held her fork. Mickey picked up a big piece and sighed lowering it to his plate. 

“Ohh myy Gaawwd.” Luke said and they all looked at him, he was chewing and his eyes rolled. 

Ian laughed and dished lasagna out for Heidi, she held out her plate and her lips turned up into a smug smile, he flipped her off and Heidi stuck her tongue out. 

“You’re like fucking two year olds.” Ian said and Mickey and Heidi smiled at each other. 

Mickey took the first bite and rolled his eye like Luke had. 

“Man, so good.” He said. 

“Mmmmmm.” Heidi murmured and closed her eyes. 

There was nothing but scraping forks against plates for a minute and grumbles of pleasure. 

Mickey reached out for the garlic bread and dumped a piece on Luke plate, Luke smiled at him and picked it up. 

“Oh me too.” Heidi said and Mickey tossed her a piece and she caught it.

Ian shook his head and smiled at Luke digging in to his food. 

There was silence again except for eating and murmurs. 

‘Heaven on a plate’ he thought and took the last bite. Luke was still steadily shoving it in and no one had touched the salad. 

“It’s a good thing I didn’t eat this before I left, I wouldn’t have fit in my bikini.” Heidi said and Mickey saw Luke’s head turn to her at the word bikini. He pushed his jaw out and drank his beer. 

Heidi turned her 1000 watt smile at Luke. 

“I hear you like music.” Heidi asked. 

“Yes very much.” Luke said. “Do you play?” 

‘Play?’ Mickey thought. ‘Really?’ He shook his head and looked at Ian, he was eating and looking back and forth between Heidi and Luke. 

“No, but I used to sing a little.” Heidi said and Luke leaned forward. 

“What genre?” Luke asked in a sweet tone. 

‘Gen-what?’ He thought. 

“Blues, I loved it.” Heidi said and Mickey looked between Luke and Heidi. They were making googly eyes at each other and Luke did not look like he was 13, he looked like he was 20 hitting on a girl like a playa. 

‘Seriously? What the fuck?’ Mickey thought and kicked Ian. Ian’s head whipped around and he brought his hands up and kicked him in the shin.

“Ow fuck.” He said and bared his teeth at him, Ian turned his head and drank his beer giving him a dirty look. 

Luke and Heidi hadn’t looked away from each other. 

“Oh hey there’s a blues club that does an afternoon set.” Heidi said. 

“We should go.” Luke said.

Mickey’s mouth dropped open. 

“I’d like that.” Heidi said with a sweet smile. “Ya know they might let me get up and sing.” Heidi said as she stood up. 

“That would be great.” Luke said and stood up. 

“I like your glasses.” Heidi said. “You look so smart.”

“Thanks, they’re new.” Luke said and picked up Heidi’s coat for her. 

“Handsome and a gentleman, I may just have to keep you.” Heidi said as she pulled up her coat. 

Luke smiled brightly at her. Mickey’s hand went up and he shook his head squinting at them.

“Here we go handsome.” She said and held his coat around him.

“Thank you.” Luke said and slid his arms in the coat. 

“Do you really have a superpower?” Heidi asked and Luke giggled as they walked toward the door. 

“Maybe.” Luke said slyly and Heidi reached out her hand to Luke’s at the door and Luke took it smiling up at her. 

“Don’t wait up.” Heidi called to them with a bright smile and Luke opened the door for Heidi. 

“Definitely have to keep you around handsome.” Heidi said and Luke tucked his chin to his chest and smiled wickedly. 

Mickey rolled his eyes and smacked a hand to his cheek. 

“Do they play anything else at the club?” He heard from Luke as the door closed. 

Mickey sat back in his chair and Ian was staring at the door. 

They sat in silence for a long minute.

“Not gay.” Ian said slowly.

“Nope.” 

“He’s on a date.” Ian said.

“Yup.” 

“With Heidi”

“Uh huh.” He said lightly. 

Ian let out a long breath and turned to him 

“What the fuck are we gonna do with a straight kid?” Ian asked in a rush. 

“You’re askin’ me?” Mickey shot out and brought his arm up taking a long drink of his beer.

“Fuck.” Ian said and tipped his beer up.

“Yaaa.” He said with a nod. 

 

Luke woke up from a nice dream about Heidi swaying to classical music, he smiled and thought back to the whole dream. 

‘Hm, maybe I should go back to sleep.’ He thought with a little laugh. He knew it was late in the morning from the light. Heidi had taken him on an adventure of sight and sound. They started in an outside area and people had gone up to play acoustic sets while they drank coffee and talked about music. They had moved into the club and the blues set had begun, his whole body tuned into one musician who was all sadness and despair. Heidi saw his face and had moved closer wrapping her arm around him and he didn’t pull away, he had felt no panic at all with her. She was open and honest without a mean bone in her body. 

‘And what a body.’ He thought and took a deep breath. Men had eyed her and Heidi had ignored them, she was totally focused on him. He let out a long sigh and sat up pulling the blankets down, he felt only a little stiffness and his face only hurt from smiling.

They didn’t know if Ian and Mickey were awake and Heidi had unlocked the door for him the night before.

“Thank you, that was…” Luke couldn’t find the right word to tell her how much it meant to him her bringing him to the club. 

“I had the best time!” Heidi said and kissed his cheek. She smiled at him and Luke felt his heart sigh.

“Me too.” Luke said.

“Let me go first.” Heidi said.

“It’s us.” Heidi called out. Luke waited by the door and Heidi had the door half closed in front of him. 

“What the fuck time is it?” Mickey called out in a hard tone. 

“Ok, you’re good.” Heidi said opening the door and ushered Luke inside. 

“Why does everybody do that?” Luke asked shaking his head.

Heidi closed the door quietly and said, “Ahhh have you met Mickey?”

“Yeah.” Luke said tilting his head at her.

Heidi laughed quietly and helped him with his coat, she walked to the coach and threw it over the armrest. 

“Don’t be surprised if you find a gun in every room of this house.” Heidi said and Luke smiled and thought she was joking. 

“So not kidding.” Heidi said and Luke’s smiled fell into an O shape.

Heidi leaned over to hug him and Luke smelled her perfume and sighed. 

Heidi stood up and smiled beautifully at him. 

“Go get some sleep handsome, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She slid her finger down his nose and his whole body tingled. 

“Goodnight.” Luke said and held the door open for her and watched her walk to her car as the door closed. 

‘The view from the back is almost better than the front.’ He thought. 

He giggled as the door shut and put his hand over his mouth quickly. He turned the locks carefully and walked through the kitchen as quietly as he could. The light to Ian and Mickey’s room went on as he walked in front of it and he froze. 

“Hey.” Ian said. Luke turned to them, they were sitting up against the headboard with blankets over their laps and Mickey was lighting a cigarette, his lifted his eyebrows and exhaled the smoke. 

“Uhhh hi?” Luke said. 

“Big date.” Ian said and Mickey murmured in agreement. 

“Just some music.” He said and waved a hand looking at the doorjamb.

“Uh huh.” Ian said and Mickey sputtered. 

“Kid you got some style.” Mickey said with a wicked grin and Luke blushed and turned his head away.

“No, no, no” Ian said shaking his head and leaning forward. “Don’t go all shy on us, we know you have a way with the ladies.”

Mickey nodded with his lower lip between his teeth. 

“Noooo.” Luke said and shook his head. 

“Uh ya!” Mickey said and Ian laughed beside him. 

Luke sputtered and waved his hands up. They both laughed and he rolled his eyes and turned away from the door. 

“Goodnight.” He said firmly walking to his room. 

“Night Mr.Smooth.” Ian said and he heard Mickey laugh.

“Mr. Fuckin’ pick up right there.” Mickey said and Ian laughed. 

Luke shook his head and held the door. 

“13 and pickin’ up 29 years olds.” Ian said with wonder.

“And like that.” Mickey said and heard his fingers snap. 

Luke had closed the door smiling and crawled into the bed and dreamt of Heidi. 

He walked over to his dresser and slipped on his glasses, seeing Heidi had been definitely worth the price of the glasses. He pulled on his jeans from last night and opened his dresser for a t-shirt and shrugged his over his head. 

He found some socks and wiggled his toes in them as he walked toward the door, he opened it and walked down the hallway. Mickey was in the doorway of the small room opposite the living room, he was standing with his arms crossed looking around the room with his face twisted up. Before he could see clearly he never would have guessed Mickey could look so mean most of the time. 

Luke walked through the living room and stood next to him. Mickey turned his head down and smiled at him. 

“Finally decided to get your ass outta bed?” Mickey said as he picked up the empty bin and moved it to the center of the empty room.

“What’s this room?” He asked .

“Office.” Mickey said and Luke nodded. It was smaller than the living room but there was a nice big window that let in a lot of light.

“Nice.” He said.

“Yup, OK let’s tear it up.” Mickey said with a smile and hit the on switch to a radio in the corner. Heavy metal blasted out and Luke laughed watching Mickey twirl around his sledge hammer before smashing it into the wall.

Mickey smashed and he leaned against the wall getting inside the music until Mickey stopped and he started picking up the drywall. 

Mickey smiled and looked up at the empty wall with a nod. 

“Can I try?” He asked straightening up with drywall in his hands. 

“Ya?” Mickey said and he nodded. He dropped the drywall in the bin and slapped his hands together. 

“Alright that wall.” He said waved his arm at the side wall and handed him the sledgehammer. 

It was heavy and he spread out his hands to balance the weight and took a swing, it made a small dent in the wall. 

“Come on. “Mickey said. “You can do better than that.”

He braced on his legs and swung as hard as he could, the wall broke apart and he smiled.

“There ya go.” Mickey said behind him and he took another swing. 

He felt a bubble of anger in his stomach and pushed it down. He hit the wall again and it came back and he didn’t push it away, he slammed into the wall and the anger came over him. He broke the wall and the anger built up into rage and he was slamming the wall harder and harder until he was felt dizzy. The rage flowed through him and his blood pumped and his lungs moved. He saw the faces of his mother in a rage, his father over him through a blood red haze. It all flashed faster and faster through him, he saw a flash of blue through the red haze and the rage. His heart bleed with anguish and he let it bleed, every ounce of pain he felt came in a rush there was nothing but pain and hurt. He felt his lungs burst and his heart beat furiously in his chest. He saw his arms moving as it hit the wall, the last part of the wall fell to the floor. 

The sledgehammer dropped out of his hand and he stepped back breathing heavily. He brought his hand up to his face and realized his face was covered in tears, he wiped them away and sat down on the floor with his legs crossed. He felt his breath come easier than it had in a long time and he let the air flow in and out of his lungs. 

He heard Mickey’s footsteps and he saw a bottle of water come into his line of sight, he took it from him and took a long drink with his eyes closed. His throat hurt and the water soothed it instantly, he brought the bottle down and took a long deep breath. Luke stared down at the floor covered in drywall and held the bottle in both hands. He had forgotten Mickey was there, he had forgotten everything except the blinding anger and hurt. 

He looked around the room and Mickey was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall with a beer in his hand. 

“Feel better?” Mickey asked quietly.

Luke nodded looking down at the water bottle. 

Luke pushed himself across the room to sit against the wall across the room from Mickey. He brought his knees up in front of him and wrapped his arms around them. Mickey was looking out the window with his head against the wall behind him.

“I’m sorry.” He said. 

Mickey’s eyes came to his and Luke saw them focus intensely on him, he watched his eyes shift away from his as nodded his head slowly.

“I was 16 when I started up with Ian.” Mickey said quietly. “My father would have killed me if he knew I was with him so I hid it.” 

“He caught us together.” Mickey said. Luke heard something very dark in his tone and saw Mickey clench his fist. “He did something worse than just killing me, he took away something that I didn’t get back for a long time.” 

Mickey looked over at him and Luke watched the darkness lift from his eyes until they were clear. 

“Don’t be sorry kid.” Mickey said. “You can break down every wall in this house to get back what those fuckers took from you and you’ll keep doing whatever you need to do to get it back” 

Luke took a deep breath, Mickey kept his eyes steady on his and Luke nodded. 

“Good.” Mickey said as he stood up, he walked over to him and held out his hand to him. 

“Come on man, your girlfriends gonna be here soon.” He said and Luke grabbed his hand and smiled as Mickey pulled him up off the floor. 

 

Ian was closing the rig doors when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, he pulled it out and read Mick. He smiled and hit accept. 

“Hey.” He said. 

“Hey.” Mickey said and Ian heard the strain in his voice. 

“What’s wrong?” He said immediately. 

“It was Luke man.” Mickey said.

“Is he OK?” He asked.

“Ya, he’s fine. He’s out with Heidi.”

Ian waited and heard Mickey breathe out. “Fuck.” 

“Are you OK?” Ian said and opened the rig doors and closed them behind him.

“Ya, I’m fine.” 

Ian headed toward his locker. 

“What happened?” He asked as he opened it.

“He wanted to tear up the wall.” Mickey said letting out a long breath. “He fucking lost it, tearing the wall to pieces.”

“Holy shit.” Ian said quietly and grabbed his backpack and coat. 

“I tried to stop him but he swung at me.”

“With the sledgehammer?” Ian said and Mickey was quiet. Ian put his coat on and swung his back pack over his arm.

“I’m leaving now.” He said.

“No don’t, he’s not here.”

“I’m not coming for him.” Ian said.

“I’m fine, stay at work.” Mickey said. 

“Ya ok.” He said. “I love you.” He said and hit end call as he turned the corner into his bosses office to let her know he had to leave for the day. 

 

Ian walked into the house and threw his backpack on the table. He walked down the hall and saw Mickey with his back turned to the mirror looking at the back of his shoulder. Ian saw the red center with blue and purple streaking around it. 

“Oh my God.” He said.

“I’m OK.” Mickey said immediately holding up his hand. 

“The fuck you are.” He said and turned him around. “Jesus.” He said. It was worse up close, his shoulder was going to be black soon. 

“Luke did this?” he asked. 

“Oh ya.” Mickey said and Ian brought his hand up his side and around his waist. He felt Mickey sigh and brought his arm under his. 

“Come on we’ll put some ice on it.”

“This is better.” Mickey said and Ian kissed his neck. 

“Ice hm.” He said against Mickey’s skin and stepping back and Mickey came with him into the hallway. 

He led him into the bedroom kissing the top of his shoulder as he went. He turned him around and Mickey sat down on the side of the bed and Ian walked back out to get the ice. 

They had been here before, cleaning each other up after a fight but this was different, he thought and grabbed two packages of frozen vegetables. It wasn’t a fight, he walked into the bedroom and Mickey was on his stomach with his eyes closed. Ian sat next to him and carefully lowered the packages to his shoulder. 

“Mm.” Mickey murmured. 

“That good?” Ian asked. 

“Yeah.” Mickey said and Ian curled up next to him on his side and brought his hand under his and Mickey’s fingers came over his and he brushed his hand over his face and hair. 

Mickey opened his eyes and Ian saw the pain in them, not the physical pain from his shoulder but whatever had happened had hurt him. 

“He wanted to try it and I know his ribs are still sore so I figure he’ll hit it a couple times and be done.” Mickey said. Ian tightened his fingers around Mickey’s and Ian moved his hand through his hair. 

“He hit it hard and he started swinging and he started crying, I tried to talk to him and he didn’t hear me.” Mickey said shifting his weight. Ian lifted his hand and moved the bag further up. 

“Better?” Ian asked. 

Mickey nodded and closed his eyes. “He started screaming and I grabbed his arm, he swung at me and he had this look on his face like I was going to hurt him. He didn’t know what he was doing and I let him go but he caught my shoulder, he screamed and smashed up the wall.”

“Jesus.” Ian said. Luke was so sweet and the thought of him hurting anyone was almost impossible to imagine. 

“He finally stopped and just stood there, he dropped the sledge hammer and sat down right where he stood. He looked at his hand like he didn’t know he’d been crying.” 

Ian felt his heart ache for Luke, he closed his eyes and stroked Mickey’ hair.

“He said he was sorry.” Mickey said softly. Ian lowered his mouth to his arm and kissed over it bringing his face closer to Mickey’s as he stroked a thumb over his face. He felt Mickey’s fingers tighten around his.

“I told him.” Mickey said quietly and Ian opened his eyes. Mickey’s eyes were still closed and he pulled their hands closer to his body. 

“Not all of it but enough.” He said. Ian felt the tears come and closed his eyes against them, he moved his hands over Mickey’s hair and neck to his back and pulled their locked hands toward him. Mickey shifted and Ian pulled him over him bringing his arms around him until Mickey was over him. He held his neck and carefully rubbed his back, he felt Mickey’s breathing steady against him and ran his hand over the back of his neck holding him tightly. 

Mickey hand came up to Ian’s face and Ian felt his thumb stroke over his cheek and he felt Mickey lift his head. Mickey kissed him softly and Ian ran his hands through his hair. Mickey lowered his forehead to his closed his eyes while Ian moved his hands over him. Mickey opened his eyes lifting his head and smiled sweetly at him. 

Ian smiled up at him and Mickey looked over his face with soft eyes. The tidal wave of love Ian felt washed over him and he held his breath like he was going under water. He knew Mickey was strong but putting himself out there for Luke made him love him even more, he had never told anyone about that day and Ian saw his strength and heart in his eyes.

“Do you know how much I love you?” Ian said quietly. Mickey smiled down at him and nodded and his thumb came up further over his cheek. Ian turned his lips into his hand with his eyes on Mickey and kissed his hand. Ian shook his head and turned it back to face Mickey.

“I know.” Mickey said and lowered his lips to his. Ian felt his lips brush over his softly and lift his head a fraction. 

Mickey‘s lips turned up and he lowered his lips to his Ian opened his lips and Mickey let out a long breath. Ian opened his fingers over his hair and moved them down to his neck. 

He lifted his head to deepen the kiss and he felt Mickey shiver against him. Ian moved his hands over him and poured all his love into him. His heartbeat was steady and strong against his chest, his lips moved over his and Ian felt every part of his heart shake. 

He shifted his weight bringing Mickey under him and held his face while kissing slow and deep. He felt Mickey’s hands raise his shirt over his sides and held his breath at his light touch. He opened his eyes and he saw Mickey’s eyes on his. His shirt came over his head and Ian slid his opened mouth over his jaw and down his neck. Mickey’s hand moved over him lightly and he shook over him. 

His mouth moved over his collar bone and shoulder, he turned his head into Mickey’s jaw and kissed his lips sweetly. He saw Mickey’s eyes half closed and his heart beat faster against his chest. 

Ian moved down his body sliding both hands over his arms and his mouth over his skin. Mickey’s eyes closed and Ian unbuttoned his jeans and kissed along his waistband. He pulled down his jeans and shorts off slowly. He moved his hands over his leg as he came back over him and pulled off his jeans as he kissed over him his hips his side, his stomach over his chest up to his neck and opened his lips with his tongue. Mickey brought his hands over his back and opened his mouth for him. Ian wrapped his fingers tightly though Mickey’s and brought his body up Ian gripped his leg and slowly slid into him. 

Mickey’s mouth widened arching his neck back keeping his eyes on Ian as he moved over him. It was achingly slow and Ian felt the tension in him build and his gut rolled in him bring a heat deep through him. Mickey lifted his hand and reached out to Ian’s waist, their breath was slow and steady and they moved together, he watched Mickey’s eyes and felt him tense under him and watched as he came tightening his fingers around Ian’s and taking in ragged short breathes. 

Ian lowered his mouth to his and Mickey lifted his head off of the bed and they kissed slowly, Ian brought his other hand to his and lifted himself back up. Their hands together they moved steadily until the heat built up to a peak and Ian’s head go back and his mouth widened, he came in a slow steady wave and Mickey held him up, Mickey lowered him down to him wrapping his hand around his neck and Ian’s face was next to his and his hand came up to the side of his face. 

Ian lifted his head and Mickey stroked his fingers over his face. Ian brushed his lips over his and lowered his forehead to his. 

 

Sutter was cuffing a dirty piece of trash the agency said would be a good source of information.

“Cockisuckingpieceofshitmotherfucker.” He seethed.

He tightened the cuffs and the guy whipped his head around. Sutter ignored him and Jenkins grabbed his arm pulling him forward. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and lifted it out and stopped walking when he saw Ian’s name on the screen. He watched Jenkins put the suspect in the car without a problem and hit accept. 

“Sutter.” He said. 

“Hey Big.” Ian said.

“Hey kid.”

“You got a minute?” Ian asked and Sutter knew it was about Luke. 

“Yeah.” He said and walked up to the side of the car, Jenkins already had the car running. Sutter lifted a finger and Jenkins nodded to him. 

“What’s up?” he asked turning away from the car. 

“Alright soo…Luke had a meltdown.” Ian said

“Big time.” He heard Mickey’s voice and realized both of them were on speaker phone.

“Define meltdown.” He said as he closed his eyes as his heart sank in his chest. 

“He busted up a wall with a sledgehammer.” Mickey said.

“He was screaming.” Ian said softly. Sutter let his stomach roll and took a long deep breath. 

“What else?” he asked sharply.

“He..” Ian started. 

“No.” Mickey said. “It’s nothin’

“What?” Sutter said.

“He hit Mickey with a sledgehammer.” Ian said and he could hear Mickey say at the same time, “He didn’t fuckin’ know what he was doing.”

“He needs to know.” Ian said. “I’m fucking fine.” Mickey said.

Sutter rubbed a hand over his face.

“Hello.” He said and they kept on bickering like he wasn’t there. 

“See, I’m fucking fine.” Mickey said. 

“You are not fucking fine.” Ian said.

“Wanna bet?” Mickey said in a low tone and heard kissing noises. 

Sutter rolled his eyes up. 

“Jesus, I’m on the phone here!” He said firmly.

“Ahh, ya sorry.” Ian said.

Sutter took a long breath and said. “He’s a tough kid.” 

“Ya.” Mickey said quietly.

“But this is going to happen, it’s not going to be all sunshine and roses.” Sutter said and heard silence on the phone. 

“It’ll come out in different ways but it will come out.” He said. 

“OK, what do we do?” Ian asked. Sutter held the phone to his jaw and thought about what he would have wanted when he was that age. 

“Just be there for him like you’re doing.” Sutter said. “He likes you both a lot and trusts you as much as he can right now. “

“That’s it?” Mickey said. Sutter knew Mickey would want concrete answers and he had one more idea.

“I have a friend, she works for the bureau and she’s the best child phycologist around. I can ask her to talk to him.” He said. 

“A shrink?” Ian said. Sutter knew he wouldn’t be totally against the idea, Ian knew the value of a good physiatrist.

“A Fed?” Mickey said and Sutter smiled. Trust Mickey to still not trust a cop. 

“Hey, I’m a Fed.” Sutter said. “She’s great with kids, I’ve seen her work miracles.”

“We’ll have to ask Luke.” Ian said. 

“Let me know what he says.” He said and turned toward the car.

“We will.” Ian said. 

“Alright and no more kissy noises on the phone huh?” He said as he opened the door.

He heard them laughing and Ian said, “Nah, we can’t promise that.” 

He heard Mickey laugh and Ian made loud kissy noises. Sutter laughed and said, “Ya ok, see ya.” 

“Later.” Mickey said still laughing. 

Sutter slammed the door and Jenkins gave him a dirty look. Sutter ignored him and looked down at his phone to call the best shrink in the country to try and help one broken kid on the south side of Chicago.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke had been with them exactly 33 days but he fit right in to their kooky little world with his sweet nature and his smart mouth. He had been leery about the shrink and they didn’t push, Ian had an idea that Heidi had had a hand in getting him to say yes. The shrink came and had introduced herself as Elizabeth, she’d just hung out with Luke at first. They had watched her like a hawk and she had been very aware of them hovering. 

Ian had looked her up online and she had so many letters after her name she looked like alphabet soup gone crazy. They had backed off a little when Luke had accepted her casual offer to take a drive to get hot chocolate. They had been gone for an hour and Elizabeth had brought him back with a chocolate mustache and he seemed none the worse for wear. When they had asked him about it he had just shrugged and said,

“We just talked.”

“Aha, another date. Jesus kid date someone your own fucking age will ya?” Mickey had said and Luke had giggled with a wicked smile. 

Luke wasn’t dating anyone as far as Ian knew but then again he knew Heidi had his heart. Luke had a mad crush on her and Heidi was really sweet about it. Ian smiled thinking about Heidi, she always made sure Luke was doing something fun, they had gone sledding and to every new movie, they shopped together and she had even tried to take him snowboarding. 

“If I’m going to fly down a hill at 30 miles per hour I’ll be in a car thank you.” Luke had said and Ian had heard Mickey all through his answer. Mickey had laughed low in his throat and nodded in agreement. 

Ian pushed the plate around and made sure the frosting was even and licked the frosting off of his fingers. 

He heard a low hum behind him and Mickey grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand over to his mouth. 

“Mmm.” He murmured taking his finger in his mouth. Ian felt his gut tighten and Mickey smiled around his finger. 

“Good.” He said releasing his finger and tightening his grip on his wrist. Mickey smiled wickedly and walked to the coffeemaker, Ian grumbled and shot him a dirty look. Mickey picked up a cup and looked over his shoulder at him with his tongue at the corner of his mouth. Ian slid a finger through the frosting and brought it up to his mouth and licked over it, he watched Mickey’s eyes go hot and his teeth come out over his bottom lip. 

“Ya, it’s pretty good” He said and narrowed his eyes. Mickey turned to him with his eyes hot and reached for his waist. Ian pushed the frosting down his nose and Mickey narrowed his eyes and twisted his mouth up, he pushed at him and Ian stepped back laughing long and hard at his face. 

“Oh ha…Hmm..” Mickey murmured wiping the frosting off of his nose and stepped forward. He kept his eyes on Ian and put his hand in the bowl.

“Come on!” Ian said stepping away. 

Mickey smiled. 

“Shit.” Ian said and ran. He heard Mickey cackled behind him and knew Mickey was faster than him, his only chance was to get behind a door. 

“Where you goin?’” Mickey said laughing and Ian tried for the office but didn’t get the door closed in time, Mickey pushed it open and Ian in a surprise blitz pushed past him, he ran back through the living room

“Oh no.” Mickey said and caught him around the waist as he tried to run around the table.

“Gotcha now.” Mickey said and Mickey turned him around in a flash and pushed him back into the table. 

“Arrggg.” Ian laughed and groaned holding up a hand pushing him off. 

“Stay still.” Mickey laughed out and Ian pushed at him, Mickey giggled and pushed his frosting covered hand over his face. Ian held his wrist and pushed but laughed when he saw Mickey’s eyes lit up and his mouth open, he pushed his hand all over his face and Ian could do nothing but stand there. He blew out air and Mickey laughed when he scrunched up his face to get frosting out of his eyes. 

“Uhhh morning.” Ian heard and they both turned to Luke. He was standing in the hallway smiling at them. 

“Morning.” Ian said holding Mickey’s wrist away from his face. Mickey took the opportunity to push at his face and over his mouth, Ian licked his lips and heard Mickey giggle.

“Happy Birthday.” Ian said brightly through the frosting. Luke tucked his head in his chin and smiled. 

“Thank you.” Luke said shyly. Ian tilted his head and turned to Mickey. Mickey lifted and eyebrow and smiled, they turned back to Luke and Mickey dropped his hand, Luke looked up and saw their smiling faces as they walked toward the counter. 

“Uh guys.” Luke said taking a step back.

“Ya?” Mickey said as Ian pushed his hand around the frosting bowl. Luke took a step back and his lips turned up in a smile shaking his head. 

“Milkovich Gallagher tradition.” He said and pushed his hand through the frosting. 

“Since when?” Luke said and watched Ian as he came forward. 

“Since right now.” Ian said with a smile and Luke laughed and turned away bolting down the hall. 

Ian ran after him and heard Mickey laughing behind him. 

 

Luke sat at the table covered in frosting and smiled like a loon. They had chased him with frosting and called out to him, “Come on man.” He heard from Mickey. “Take it like a Gallagher.” Ian had called out. He had eluded them for a few minutes but they had caught up to him and he had let his head fall back and gave in. 

Ian laughed and smeared his face and stepped back looking down at him with a critical eye, making sure he got it all.

“Nah man you missed a spot.” Mickey had said stepping forward and he had smeared frosting over his forehead and hair. 

“Yuuuckk.” Luke had said and they had giggled. He looked through his frosting covered glasses and they looked down at him with their hands on their hips and nodded. 

Ian brought him a towel and he took off his glasses and tried to wipe off most of the frosting. 

“Another Mickovich Gallagher tradition, cake for breakfast.” Ian said. 

“Oh ya?” Mickey said and Luke heard all happy tones in his voice. Luke slipped his glasses back on and saw Ian still covered in frosting coming to the table with a big cake. It was huge and was covered with the chocolate frosting he was currently wearing. 

“Wow.” He said and Ian put it down on the table and sat down. Ian cut the cake in a big piece and handed it to him. 

“Thank you.” He said smiling through the frosting and Ian laughed at his frosting covered face. 

“Heidi’s coming for dinner so we can’t eat all of it.” Ian said as he cut a piece for Mickey. 

“Aww.” Luke said and Ian giggled. Ian cut a piece for himself and sat back. 

Luke picked up his fork and took his first bite of his first ever birthday cake made for him. It was heavenly chocolate and delicious frosting and he wouldn’t have cared if it was terrible, Ian had made it for him and no one had ever made him a cake before. 

“Hmph.” He said around the cake and nodded. Mickey nodded as he ate. 

“What do you want for dinner?” Ian asked smiling. 

Luke smiled and shrugged a shoulder. “Anything is fine.” He said. 

“Come on man.” Ian said and smiled brightly at him. Luke looked down at his cake and thought about the question. The question was a simple one but it was something new like Ian making him a birthday cake. 

“Lasagna?” he said with a smile and Mickey nodded.

“Good fucking choice.” Mickey said and Ian smiled at him.

“Ya, I can do that.” Ian said. 

“So how does this Mickovich Gallagher tradition work?” He said to Ian. 

“Huh?” Ian asked and Luke smiled and tilted his head toward Mickey and Ian smiled wickedly.

“We’re missing something.” Luke said and looked around thinking. “Hmmm?”

“Hm.” Ian said as he picked up his piece of cake. Luke looked over at Mickey and he was eating his cake/breakfast not paying attention to them, he looked up and reached out for his coffee mug, it was silent and Mickey’s eyes shifted back and forth between them over his mug. He pulled the mug away from his mouth. 

“Fuck no.” He said and Ian whipped his cake at him. It hit Mickey in the face and Ian clapped his hands together and laughed. Mickey bit his lip and wiped cake off his face and flicked his hand up in a flash and at Luke.

“Hey … “SPLAT…”it was him” Luke said laughing. 

Mickey held up one finger. 

“Your idea.” Mickey said and Luke giggled raising his cake. 

“Oh no..” Mickey said and reached over and took a big chunk out of the cake and Luke brought his hand down over his head and pushed cake through Mickey’s hair, Mickey threw the piece at him and he got a mouth full of chocolate. Ian was giggling and Mickey and Luke looked at each other and reached for the cake. 

“Oh shit.” Ian said as his eyes opened.

“Fire.” Mickey said and Luke threw the cake giggling so hard he almost missed Ian. 

 

They cleaned up most of the cake and Luke was still smiling. Mickey was rinsing his face in the kitchen sink and Luke was pushing the cake off of the table with a cloth. 

“I have cake in my fucking ears.” Mickey said garbled against his hands. “Fuck.”

Ian and Luke laughed and Mickey dried his face throwing the towel at Ian. Luke pushed all the crumbs into his hand and walked over to the garbage, he dropped them in and saw Mickey was looking down at him. He knew he was still covered in frosting and he didn’t care, this was the best birthday ever. 

“Hey.” Mickey said to Ian and nodded to the counter. Ian picked up Mickey’s phone and handed it to him. 

“Oh jeez.” He said and Mickey smiled holding up the camera.

“Smile.” Mickey said in a dry tone and Luke smiled despite himself and heard a click.

“No one see’s that.” He said as Mickey laughed at the picture and reached out to show it to Ian whose face was dripping wet from rinsing his face off. 

Ian smiled and nodded drying his face. He handed Luke the towel and he rolled his eyes smiling as he took off his glasses and stepped up to the sink. He rinsed his face off as best he could and stood up pushing his hand through his hair. 

“I need a shower.” He said and dried his face. 

He reached for his glasses and slid them back on, Mickey was smiling and stepping back out of the room.

“My hair is frosting.” He said pushing his fingers through it so it stood up. Ian laughed and brought his arm around his shoulder guiding him to the table. He sat in his seat and Ian picked up the destroyed cake. 

“Heidi will eat it.” Ian said with a tilt of his head as he brought it over to the counter. 

“When’s she coming?” Luke asked and Ian laughed. 

“About four I think.”

Luke looked at the clock, she’d be here in six hours he thought and smiled. Mickey came back into the room and threw a bag at Ian, he caught it and Mickey came to the table and sat down. Mickey put a brown bag in front of him.

“Happy birthday kid.” Mickey said. Luke looked up at him and down at the small bag in front of him. 

‘He bought me a present?’ Luke felt his eyes burn, ‘Birthday cake and a gift?’ He thought and looked back up at him. Mickey smiled and lit a cigarette and waved a hand at him.

“Open it.” He said and smiled at him with his eyes bright, Luke smiled at his happy tone. 

Luke took a deep breath and carefully turned the bag around, he opened the fold and felt inside and his heart dropped. He looked at Mickey and Mickey took a drag of his cigarette and sat back. Luke pulled out the box and he saw what they were. 

Violin strings. 

He opened the box immediately and pulled them out. There were 10 strings, he could play for months with these. 

“I should have gone first.” Ian said and he heard Mickey say “HA.” in a proud tone. 

“Thank you.” Luke said as he straightened them out and felt over the thin wires.

“Sure kid.” Mickey said. Luke looked away from the strings and up at him, he was smiling letting out smoke.

“My turn.” Ian said and held up a brightly wrapped box. Luke smiled and Ian reached over and put it in front of him. 

“Happy Birthday” Ian said and Luke heard the caring in his voice, that meant more to him than anything he could have bought him. 

Luke started to unwrap the present and his eyes went wide.

“No way.” He said and Ian laughed. 

It was the box set of Star Wars. 

“AHHHH.” He yelled and bounced in his chair looking over the shiny cover. Ian laughed and sat back crossing his arms. 

“Oooohh.” Luke said turning it and reading the back. Mickey grumbled and Luke looked up at him.

“But it’s all of them.” He said seriously and Mickey rolled his eyes and smirked. 

“Yeahhh whatever.” He said and shook his head. 

“He doesn’t get it.” Ian said and sighed shaking his head.

“Please tell me we’re not watching them all.” Mickey said with his head falling to his chest. 

“It’s his birthday.” Ian said and shrugged. Mickey let out a long sigh and sat back but he rolled his eyes quickly and smiled at him. 

Luke giggled and looked back down at his gifts. He brought his hand over the strings and read the back of the box set while Ian and Mickey argued about why they all had to be watched…again.

 

Luke showered quickly making sure his hair was frosting free and stepped out reaching for the towel he had hung up where he knew it would be when he got out, he dried his face and stepped over to the sink for his glasses. He felt the bubble of excitement spreading in him, he could play again. He dried his hair and felt over the bump where the gash was when he had come here. The hair around it had grown in and it wasn’t as noticeable anymore. Ian had cut his hair two days before he had started school and the plastic stuff that Ian had put on it to protect it while he showered was gone and it had healed. He combed his hair and put his clothes back on, he cleaned the bathroom up in a rush and opened the door. He could hear Ian and Mickey in the kitchen and he darted into his bedroom closing the door behind him. 

He opened the bottom drawer of his dresser and brought out his violin and bow. He felt his soul relax as he sat on the bed and remembered Mr. Vanderhoof teaching him how to string a violin. He took out the old strings and put them aside. He lined up a new string and carefully twisted it until it tightened over the face of the violin. He redid each string until all of them were lined up and shining together. He gripped the end and turned it into his chin, he looked down and saw them lined up in a row and smiled bringing up the bow. He brought it as far over as he could and brought the bow over it slowly, he turned the pegs and pushed it forward, one more turn and he stood up. 

He held the violin in a firm grip, he held the bow lightly and everything stopped. He heard nothing and only felt the air in his lungs, he held the bow and moved it over the strings closing his eyes and played. 

 

Mickey was watching Ian stir onions and peppers together, he had started on the sauce for the lasagna as soon as Luke had hit the shower. 

“Did you see him, all casual, ‘When’s Heidi coming?” Ian said. “HA.” Ian laughed. 

Mickey snorted out a laugh and said, “Frick’s comin’?” 

“Ya.” Ian said stirring. “He said he'd be..” Ian trailed off and Mickey heard what he did. Ian tilted his head and Mickey’s head went back and they stared at each other. 

“Is that?” Ian said. Ian started for the hallway and Mickey stood up and followed him. It got louder as they reached the door and Ian stopped short, Mickey almost ran into him and pushed at him. Ian swung out and pushed him back. 

“Shhh.” Ian said and Mickey threw a hand up and scowled.

They stood outside Luke’s door and listened. Mickey waved at the doorknob and Ian shook his head scowling. Mickey rolled his eyes and reached for the knob. Ian’s arms went out and Mickey turned the knob. Luke stood with his eyes closed playing his violin and Mickey felt Ian come beside him to look through the door. Mickey smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, the kid could definitely play the violin. 

Luke smiled and moved his hand over the violin quickly and held it out with the last note. He opened his eyes and looked down at the violin and Mickey saw the pure happiness on his face. His eyes came to them and he looked surprised, it was impossible to sneak up on Luke but he smiled at them.

“That was awesome.” Ian said. 

Luke lowered the violin.

“Thank you.” Luke said quietly looking at him, Mickey felt his heart swell in his chest, it was totally worth going to three different stores before figuring out there were different gauges, whatever the fuck they were to see Luke’s face right now.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke stepped down the last step of the bus and turned around waving to Jenny as it drove away. He walked toward the house and backwards and watched it until it turned the corner, he held his strap of his back pack and walked up to the house. It was the last day of school and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and his old sneakers. He looked like any other kid coming home from school on any day and he was. He had grown about 2 inches and filled out a little, his hair was longer and he had a tan from helping in the yard on the weekends. He smacked his gum and took out his keys to unlock the door. 

“My baby.” He heard and froze. His stomach rolled and his heart sank, he knew that voice and that sickening tone. He felt a hand on his arm and cringed. 

“I’ve missed you.” She said and he could smell weed and whiskey as she pulled him in. He took ragged breathes and she pulled away and pawed over his face.

“I’m here now.” She said and Luke opened his eyes. He hadn’t seen her clearly for a long time and she looked old and desperate. She had blue eyes but they were washed out and her thick eyeliner and mascara clumped around her eyes. She was skin and bones but wore a low cut shirt and tight jeans.

“Come on.” She said pulling him as she walked, he took two steps before he stopped short. She pulled at him digging into his arm. 

“Wait.” He said, his voice shaking. She whipped her head around and he saw her impatience and hard eyes. He looked over and saw an old car idling a few doors down and smoke coming out of the driver’s side window,

“Who’s that?” He asked and her eyes went wide. 

“None of your fucking business.” She said. “Get in the car.” She said pulling him. He tried to dig his feet in the ground but his head was swimming with panic and his heart was beating fast, everything was swirling in front of him.

“No.” He said under his breath as she opened the door and it creaked open. She pulled at him and his only clear thought around the panic was if he got in that car he would never see Ian or Mickey again. 

“NO.” He said louder and pulled away, he landed on his butt and stood up quickly, she rushed over to him, he saw her hard eyes and her twisted up face coming at him. 

“HEY.” He heard and felt his whole body go limp. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Ian said. 

She reached out to him and a big hand stopped her and stepped in front of him.

“Don’t fucking touch him” Ian said in a low tone and braced on his legs. 

“Who the fuck are you?” She said looking him up and down. “He’s mine.” She said.

Ian hissed and his head went back, Luke saw his fists clench and he took a step toward her. 

“I remember you.” Ian said slowly and tilted his head. “I was there, I saw what you did.” Ian said in a low and deadly tone.

“Not me.” She said. “His father did it.” She said in a shrill voice.

“You let him.” Ian said and was right in her face. She looked scared and Luke took deep breathes and tried to calm himself down.

“Ian.” He said in a shaky voice. 

Ian didn’t look over, he took a half a step back but stayed between them.

“I need the check.” She said and Ian growled low in his throat and put a hand up.

“Oh ya, well you can take your junkie ass back to welfare and tell em you don’t have a fucking kid anymore.” Ian said stepping up to her and she stepped back with every step. 

“He’s not going anywhere with you.” Ian said in a low deep tone baring his teeth in a cold smile. His hands were white knuckled and he held his breath for a second, he thought Ian might swing at her. 

“Get the fuck out of here.” Ian said and turned away from her quickly. He stood beside him and she flipped him off and got in the car. Luke stood breathing in the bright sunshine still dizzy as the car sped away, Ian stood beside him with his hands clenched and watched the car until it turned around the corner, its tires screeching. 

Luke turned toward the house and walked on shaky legs through the door into the cool living room, down the hall to his bedroom. 

He closed the door and locked it for the first time in months. 

 

Ian paced through the kitchen and tried to calm down, he was working nights and had only been up for a couple of hours. He had heard the bus and he hadn’t come in, he had walked to the window and had seen a woman dragging him toward a car. He had rushed out and Luke had looked sick and terrified.

He looked up at the clock and opened the fridge taking out two beers. He opened one taking a sip as he found the right name on his phone. 

“Sup.” He heard. 

“Are you working?” He asked. 

“Ya.” 

“There’s a car, early La Mas shit box white headed toward home. Luke’s mother tried to take him.”

“Plate.” Carl said. 

Ian rattled off the numbers.

“Got it.” Carl said and Ian could hear the siren start as he hung up.

He looked down at his phone and thought about calling Elizabeth and heard the locks being turned in the door. 

“Hey.” Mickey said as he came in and locked the door behind him. Mickey pulled his gloves out of his pocket and dropped them on the table by the door. His eye came to his and he face fell when he saw the look in his eyes. 

“What?” He said and walked over the new hard wood floor to the kitchen. 

“Luke’s mother showed up.” Ian said in a low voice. 

Mickey stopped and his whole body stiffened.

“He OK?” Mickey asked and Ian nodded. 

Mickey wiped a hand over his face and let out a long breath, Ian held out the beer and Mickey took it twisting off the cap.

“He’s in his room.” He said. “He just walked through the house without saying a word.” 

Mickey took a long drink and his eyes were in his.

“She came to get him for the check.” He said quietly and Mickey nodded hard.

“Of course she did.” Mickey said and shook his head downing his beer. 

“He looked terrified.” He said and Mickey reached out an arm and rubbed over his back, Ian braced his arms on the counter and felt Mickey’s arm come around his waist and hold onto him. 

“Who’d you call?” Mickey asked.

“Carl.” He said.

“That’ll do it.” Mickey said as his lips turned up in a cold smile.

Luke and Carl had clicked from the start and had spent more and more time together over the past few months. Carl had taken on his uncle role pretty seriously and Luke was crazy about him. Luke said it was because Carl was pure, they had laughed at that but Luke had gone on to explain what you see is what you get with Carl and he was honest. Ian had lifted an eyebrow but nodded his head after he thought about it, Carl was brutally honest he just had a special talent for lying. 

They had opened the pool at the Gallagher house and Ian had brought Luke along, they got the pool set up and they had all splashed around and Luke had had a blast. He had watched Carl and Luke sitting on the steps and Carl had handed a beer to Luke. Luke had taken a small sip and wiped his face, only taking it because Carl had offered it. Ian had watched them sit and talk for a while, they had laughed and watched the others in the pool. Ian had smiled at them, they were so different but they were laughing and joking around like old buddies. 

Ian drank his beer and walked to the kitchen table, Mickey sat next to him and his hand went across his lap. Mickey held his hand and shook his head seething with anger. 

Ian’s phone buzzed and he saw Carl across the screen, he hit accept.

“Ya.”

“Bagged and tagged.” Carl said and Ian could hear a woman screeching in the background. 

“Can you hold her?” Ian said.

“Oh ya, the bitch got three warrants in Illinois alone, HA! You’re goin down.” Carl said and laughed. 

Ian laughed and said, “Thanks man.”

“Yep.” Carl said. “Shut the fuck up bitch.” He heard before he hung up and smiled and looked over and Mickey was nodding with a cold smile on his face. 

“Now we wait.” Ian said and he felt Mickey’s fingers tighten around his. 

 

 

Ian stepped into the shower and thought about calling in to work, he shook his head and stepped under the spray. Luke would be fine, he just needed some space. He hadn’t come out of his room all night while he and Mickey had had dinner and watched TV together. They had knocked on the door quietly but Luke hadn’t answered, he probably couldn’t hear them. He would have headphones in most of the time when he was in his room. Since he had given him the old MP3 player he had gone to sleep with them in his ears. He had a real phone now and would listen to music on it all the time. Ian had scrolled through his music list once and he couldn’t pronounce half the stuff he listened to but there was every style of music on the list. Everything from house music to classical, hip hop and opera all mixed together. 

Luke helped with the yard every weekend to support his music habit, he had paid off the glasses months ago and they had struck another deal. Ian scowled and pushed shampoo through his hair, Luke was turning into a normal kid more every day but he still wouldn’t accept anything that had to do with money. He accepted gifts and between all of them he had cleaned up on his birthday. 

Heidi had given him about 12 posters for his room and Big had given him the phone. Luke had immediately shaken his head when he opened the phone and had tried to hand it to Big. 

“No.” Big had said and Luke had looked down at the phone.

“You can keep it in the box and not use it but that’s yours.” Big had said quietly. 

Big had asked them about the phone, it was a brand new model and came with an enhanced tracking system. Big knew where Luke was every minute of the day as long as the phone was in Luke’s hand. 

“It has more data storage.” Big had said holding out a hand. Luke had looked up at him and handed it over. 

Big sat next to him on the couch and took the box from him.

“You can put more music on this than you can shake a stick at.” Big had said and Luke had smiled at his silly statement and his big fingers trying to open the little box. 

Ian pushed his fingers through his hair rinsing the soap out and took a deep breath. Luke had come so far and that bitch had come and in one second shattered Luke’s sense of security. He had watched Luke’s face and he had looked like he did the day he came, closed down and guarded. But what was worse was the defeated look on Luke’s face he had seen as he opened the door. He had really thought he was going back to that life. Ian felt his temper rise and he clenched his teeth, he pushed water out of his face and pushed the shower curtain back with a huff. He stepped out and grabbed a towel from the shelf and dried his face. 

‘He’ll be OK.’ He told himself and dried his arms and chest. After the day he had lost it in the office he hadn’t had another episode like that but he had started having nightmares. The first time they had heard a low grunting as they were heading to their room and rushed into his room, Luke eyes were squeezed tightly together and he was as stiff as a board. He had let out another low grunt and his face twisted up. Mickey had stepped forward and pulled his headphones out of his ears. 

“Luke.” Ian had said calmly. 

Luke didn’t wake up, Mickey’s face had twisted up and he reached down to shake him.

“Wait.” Ian had said and Luke’s eyes had popped open, they were glazed and he was still in the dream and he panted out short breathes. Mickey stepped back and clenched his fists in frustration.

“Fuck.” Mickey shot out. 

“Hey.” Ian had said. “Luke wake up.” Luke had relaxed a little and closed his eyes. 

“Come on man.” Mickey had said and Luke had taken a long breath. 

“There you go.” Ian had said calmly. 

Luke had nodded and relaxed his fists.

“You’re home.” Mickey had said and Luke had opened his eyes. 

Ian had walked to his dresser and picked up his glasses.

“Here.” Ian had said quietly and Luke had reached out with a shaky hand to take them. 

The nightmares had come less and less but Ian knew they’d start up again. He thought about calling Elizabeth again and opened the door to the bathroom. He looked down the hall and saw Luke’s door still closed and he took another long breath and walked into their bedroom to dress for work. He knew that Mickey would be here for Luke and his worry lessened, Mickey was fiercely protective of Luke and he knew as long as Mickey was here not even Luke’s nightmares could get to him. 

 

Mickey sat on the couch with a beer and rubbed at his eyes. Fucking whore came to my house? He thought and shook his head lighting a smoke. He sat forward and worked his jaw around pushing his legs forward. She was fucking lucky she was in jail, he thought and bit his top lip. He pulled at the smoke hard and hissed it out. He had never hit a woman but he might break that rule for that piece of trash whore. He pushed his legs out, he took a breath and tipped up his beer as Ian came out into the living room. Mickey crushed out the smoke and put his beer on the table as he stood up, he walked around the table and met him halfway through the living room. 

He brought his hand to his waist and Ian’s eyes came to his, he saw the worry in his eyes and pulled him into him. Ian’s arms came around him and he felt him sigh against his shoulder and he brought his hand up to his head and ran his hand over his hair. 

“He’s OK.” Ian said. 

“Ya man.” He said and held him tighter. Ian kissed his head and pulled away but brought his lips down to his, Mickey held his head and stoked his thumb over his waist and felt Ian’s hand on his neck. 

“Mm.” He murmured and Ian smiled against his lips. Mickey deepened the kiss and Ian laughed low in his throat. 

Mickey pulled his lips away and looked into Ian’s eyes, they were teasing and bright. 

“Wanna stay home?” He said quietly. 

Ian kissed him hard and pulled back holding his face with both hands.

“Yes.” Ian said and Mickey bit his lip rubbing his hands over Ian’s side.

Ian grunted and rolled his eyes. Mickey laughed as Ian kissed him quickly and pulled away, Mickey crossed his arms and smiled watching him. 

“See ya.” Ian said and gave him a sweet smile.

“Be careful.” He said as Ian opened the door. Ian nodded and waved closing the door behind him. Mickey locked the locks and walked back over to the couch, he picked up his beer and sat back putting his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his ankles. 

He drank slowly and tried to keep his head clear, the bitch was taken care of for the moment and she wasn’t coming back tonight. 

‘Or fucking ever.’ He thought and smiled. He could take care of her permanently he thought but he shook his head at the idea, Ian would be pissed if he did that. Carl would take care of her for the moment but long term had to be dealt with and he had a few very painful ideas floating around in his head for her. 

‘Fuck with my family? I don’t fucking think so.’ He thought. 

Ian would call the shrink and let her know what happened he knew and she’d come in a couple of days to check in on Luke. She was alright and Luke liked her, it helped that she was pretty. 

Luke loved the ladies. 

There was a new one now, what was her name? Jenny, Janet? He gave up trying to remember, it was hard to keep track. He didn’t bring them around but he had his nose in his phone half the time with a sly smile on his face texting like a motherfucker. He was glad he didn’t have to pay that bill, not that Luke let them pay for anything. Money was the only thing he would dig his heels about. Mickey didn’t give a shit about the money and Ian was the same way, it was useful and if they had it to give it was given to family if they needed it. Luke wasn’t there yet, he still had one hand on the door to leave if he had to. Mickey knew he wasn’t aware of it, he was comfortable here but the money thing was his way of taking a little control after being powerless for most of his life. 

Luke kept track of his music downloads to the penny. Right now he had banked about 50 bucks, Mickey thought with a smile. The kid would use all of it, he was crazy over any type of music and would walk around the house sometimes with his headphones in his ears completely lost in his own head. If he wasn’t listening to music, he was playing his violin. Most days he’d come home and he’d immediately hear Luke playing as he walked through the door. He’d stay in there and they’d hear him start and stop until he would play the whole thing through. They would call him for dinner and the music wouldn’t stop but he wasn’t ignoring them, they knew he was totally focused on the music. Mickey would go down the hall with a smile and wait at the door until Luke saw him.

They had only been called to the school once and they had thought Luke had finally done something normal like blow up a bathroom or maybe just caught banging a girl in the hallway. They had gone in ready to fight them and had been totally shocked at what came out of the principles mouth.

“Luke’s teacher saw he was becoming bored with the work and we had him do some tests.” He had said. 

Luke hadn’t mentioned any tests. The principle had opened Luke’s file and pulled out a sheet of paper handing it to Ian.

“He’s a genius.” He had said and Ian had taken the piece of paper and his mouth had fallen open.

“Whaat?” Ian had said looking down at the paper in his hand. 

“He has an above genius level I.Q.” The principle had said.

“What does that mean?” Ian had asked looking up.

“Genius starts at 120. As you can see Luke is well over that.” Ian had looked back down at the paper.

“Hoooolly shit.” He had said and looked over at him with wide eyes. He held the page out and Mickey had taken it. There was a long list of numbers and at the bottom it said,

Luke Gallagher-173. Mickey head had gone back and he waved a hand out at Ian with his eyes wide, Ian had pushed a hand over his shocked face and sat back.

The principle had immediately started in on about special classes and Ian had stopped him. 

“Wait, that’s college level.” He had said and the principle nodded and continued. 

“Shiitt.” Ian had said under his breath and Mickey had thought,

‘What the fuck are we doin’ with a genius?’

Luke had shrugged it off and had changed his schedule for the next year taking some of the college courses but not all of them. He had found out all he could about the music classes they offered at the high school and had signed up for a lot of them. 

Mickey shook his head and sat back, he never would have thought he’d want to have a kid. He had one but that wasn’t his choice. He took care of Yev financially but had no contact with him, he got reports and pictures but that’s it. Yev was his son by blood and he’d take care of him and step up whenever he wanted him to but he doubted if that day would ever come. Svet didn’t want him around but he knew she took care of him like a mother should. 

Luke was his by choice, his and Ian’s. 

It was pretty fucking weird though, Luke loved Star Wars and geeked out over every nerdy thing. He loved classical music and played the violin, he didn’t drink and or do any kind of drug. He was as straight as an arrow and made geniuses look stupid. He wasn’t like them at all and it didn’t matter to him or Ian one fucking bit. They both loved the kid and no one, especially his junkie whore mother was taking him away. 

He was theirs and that was fucking final. 

 

Ian called Elizabeth on his way to work and she picked up right away like she always did.

“Hello Ian.” She said in her calm voice.

“His mother showed up.” He burst out.

“Is he alright?” She asked calmly. 

“Yeah, I was there thank Christ.” He said and the thought crossed his mind. ‘What if he wasn’t there?’ and his breath locked up in his chest. 

“Breathe.” Elizabeth said and Ian let out a slow breath. 

“OK breathing.” Ian said and Elizabeth laughed lightly.

“Tell me what happened.” She said and Ian went over the whole scene with her as he drove.

“Hm, well that’s going to set him back a little but his behavior is encouraging.” She said. 

“What behavior?” Ian asked.

“He said no to her?” she asked. Ian hadn’t realized he had told her that, he had told her Luke had fallen on his butt.

“Ya he did.” Ian said remembering him saying it firmly as he had pulled his arm out of her tight grip. 

“It may be the first time he’s ever said it to her.” Elizabeth said and Ian bit his lip turning into the station. 

“You think?” Ian said and pushed the car into park.

“I do and it’s a good sign.” She said and Ian pushed at his wedding ring with his thumb. 

“Always with the signs.” Ian said with a sigh. Everything was a sign, good or bad and he just wanted Luke to be ok and tell them what he was thinking instead of hearing about ‘signs’ from her. 

“He’ll get there.” She said and Ian shook his head, she knew exactly what he was thinking again.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

“Home with Mickey.” He said and turned off the car. “We let him be alone for a while.”

“Good.” Elizabeth said. “You’re still doing everything right.”

“Still.” Ian said dryly as he pushed the door open. He felt like they were doing everything wrong, they should have made sure the bitch was still locked up.

“For a kid who’s been largely abused and neglected for most of his life his level of comfort with you and Mickey is extraordinary. I don’t think I’ve even seen a child that comfortable that quickly before. I will admit it worried me at first but it’s genuine and comes from a good place. Luke has come a long way in a very short period of time, further than you may realize.”

Ian stopped at the door and lifted his head from the phone, she was right he knew and he was being too hard on himself. Luke would get through this, he had been through tougher things and he had people who cared about him to help him now.

“You’re right.” He said.

“Yes I am.” She said. “I’ll call tomorrow and see if he’s ready to talk to me.” 

“Thanks Doc.” He said with a smile and heard her light laugh.

“You’re welcome.” She said. “How’d Mickey take it?” She asked and Ian laughed harshly.

“That well.” She said.

“He won’t kill her..” Ian said and thought about it, he could and had probably already had a plan to bury her body in their big new backyard. There was lots of room for bodies back there. 

“Nah, he won’t” Ian said firmly.

“Only because of you.” She said and Ian smiled.

“I know.” He said lightly. Mickey didn’t do a lot of things for him but there was more that he did for him and Ian loved every single one of them. 

 

Mickey yawned and rubbed a hand over his hair looking over at the clock. 10:40. Luke hadn’t come out of his room all night. He had heard him playing his violin and it was screechy and sounded really bad even to him. He had stopped about an hour ago and Mickey had hoped he’d come out then but he hadn’t heard anything since. 

He knew Ian would want him to stay away and give space but it was driving him fucking bonkers sitting here and doing nothing. He knew Luke wasn’t scared of either of them, he had seen him and Ian get into it a couple of times over the past few months. He’d beat feet into the next room and not because he was scared but because he was smart. 

“The fucckkk.” He said to himself and tried to keep his ass on the couch but he couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and walked through the living room into the hallway, he stopped at the door and listened. 

Nothing. 

He tapped a knuckle against the door and Luke didn’t answer. 

“Luke?” He said. “I’m comin’ in.” He waited for Luke to say no but he didn’t hear anything. He tried the knob, it was unlocked and he pushed it open slowly.

The room was dark and he squinted through the darkness, Luke wasn’t on the bed where he usually was with his headphones in. He scanned the room and didn’t see him. 

“Fuck.” He said. “Luke.” He shot out. 

“Yes.” He heard and he let out the breath he held. He had thought he had taken off for a second and he his heart had stopped. 

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, he locked it and looked around for Luke. There was only one place he could be where he couldn’t see him and Mickey walked over to the closet and looked down. Luke was in the corner of the closet with his knees in front of him and his arms wrapped around them. His head was on his knees and Mickey’s heart broke, Ian had found him in a closet hiding from the people who had almost killed him.

Mickey took a deep breath and thought ‘He wants to sit in the closet, he can sit in a fucking closet.’

“Whatcha doin’?” He asked casually. 

Luke shrugged and Mickey crouched down and brought his knees out until he was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. He tugged at his jeans and braced his arms over his knees. He put his head against the wall and looked around the dark room, it looked more like a kids room and Luke had made it his own. Posters and pictures were everywhere and he had a small desk in front of the window he sat in doing his homework. Mickey saw the neatly stacked books on the desk, the room was perfectly clean and everything had a place. Even his closet was organized, maybe they could do something about that. 

“We should do your room.” Mickey said nodding his head. “Whatcha think? Blue walls with a white trim, hm?.” He thought about it and glanced at Luke, he had lifted his head and was resting his chin on his knees. 

He put his head back against the wall looking around and Luke didn’t answer him. He thought he had fucked up coming in the room until Luke said quietly, 

“Blue?” 

“Or fucking red, whatever.” Mickey said. “It’s your room man.” 

“I like blue.” Luke said. 

“Ya? K blue it is.” He said. He waited and shifted his eyes over without turning his head toward Luke. He saw him lift his head from his lap and sit up straight, his knees separated and he let them fall until he was sitting crossed legged with his back against the inside of the closet. 

“Hungry?” Mickey asked. 

“No, thank you.” Luke said and Mickey hated hearing his polite tone. He had stopped being polite with them and didn’t say please and thank you for every little fucking thing anymore like he didn’t deserve it. 

Luke sat forward until he was couching and stood up stepping out of the closet. Mickey watched him walk to the bed and sit down. He picked up his phone with the headphones attached and his face lit up with light as he turned on the music and put the phone face down on the side table. He pulled off his glasses and held them in his hand. 

“She’s gone?” Luke said.

“Ya.” He said.

“Will she come back?” he asked.

“No.” Mickey said firmly. 

Luke folded his glasses and placed them on his side table, he picked up his headphones and put them in his ears, he pulled the blankets down pushing his legs under them still fully dressed except for his sneakers. Luke pulled up the blankets and let out a long sigh. 

Mickey watched him and heard the light music in the total silence. He heard his breathing deepen after a while but he stayed right where he was, the kid had had enough nightmares in his life and he was going to make sure he didn’t have another one. 

Not tonight, not while he was here. 

 

Ian came home as the sun came up, he had called Mickey but had only got his voicemail. He wasn’t worried exactly, well OK he was he thought and sped up. They were just sleeping he thought as he whizzed his way home. 

'Yep, snoozing away.' He thought. 

“And no one came to take anyone away.” He said to himself and let out a short breath.

“Nope, Luke’s there, Mick would kill anyone who tried.” Ian felt a shock go through him. “Maybe he did.” He said and shook his head. “No.” He sputtered. “Carl would call me if Mickey murdered anyone.” He said. 

“Unless Mickey’s digging a hole in the backyard right now and Luke is playing his violin over the grave?” He said and twisted up his face. 

The chances were pretty good that was happening right now. 

“Well, that’s what family is all about.” He said to himself. “You kill someone, I help you hide the body” He thought about Luke. “AND we do it with class now.” He said with a wicked smile. He pulled onto their street and saw the house was not surrounded by cop cars.

“OK good.” He said. “Still could be a murder goin’ on though.” He said remembering who he had married. He turned into the driveway beside Mickey’s truck and pushed the car into park and quickly pulled out the keys. He opened the door and listened for music coming from the backyard. 

“No funeral, bitch didn’t deserve it anyway.” He said as he jogged to the door, he unlocked it and opened the door quietly. There was no bloody corpse on the floor but there were lots of rooms to check out and he stepped in locking the door behind him. He saw the empty beer bottles on the coffee table and the ashtray full of butts. Mickey must have stayed up waiting for Luke to come out he realized and he felt his heart melt. 

“Ok where’s the shovel?” He said under his breath, he was all in for the murdering a bitch plan if that’s what was happening. 

He threw his backpack on the couch and went to find his love and his kid. 

He walked down the hall and looked into their room, the bed was made and looked like it hadn’t been slept in. He turned toward the bathroom and the door was wide open. There was only one place he could be he knew and walked into their room to his night stand, he opened the drawer and took out the key to Luke’s room. They had it but had never used it before and kept it close in case Luke had a nightmare.

He walked to the door and listened, nothing. He quietly unlocked the door and opened it carefully and saw Luke asleep on the bed with his headphones in his ears, he was sleeping soundly and Ian smiled. He didn’t see Mickey though, he took a step in and saw jean covered legs and feet with white socks crossed at the ankles sticking out from behind the dresser and moved quietly over to him. Mickey was asleep with his head down and his arms crossed over his chest, he had fallen asleep watching over Luke. 

Ian looked down at him and fell in love with him all over again. 

He crouched down and gently moved his hand over his cheek, Mickey licked his lips and his eyelashes flickered.

“Hey.” He whispered and his head rolled back to the wall. He uncrossed his arms and Ian slid his hand in his, Mickey’s hand automatically tightened around his.

“Mph.” Mickey murmured and Ian saw a flash of blue as his eyes opened and closed. Ian ran his hand over his hair and pulled on his hand gently until Mickey reached out and he took his arm pulling him up. Ian guided him toward the door and Mickey walked on steady feet with his eyes blinking open and closed. Ian held Mickey’s hand and looked back at Luke sleeping peacefully and closed the door behind him. 

“Time is it.” Mickey mumbled and pushed a finger over his eyes.

“Bedtime” He said and Mickey grunted at him pulling off his jeans with his eyes half closed. He pulled off his shirt and threw it on the floor climbing into the bed. 

Ian smiled and thought. ‘Oh no, not quite yet.’ 

He undressed quickly and felt his heart beat faster looking over him, he was pure heart and he loved every beat of it. 

‘Sexy as fuck and all mine’, He thought. He crawled naked over Mickey, he saw Mickey’s lips turn up and he lowered his lips to his ear. 

“I’ve been thinking about you all night” He said. 

Mickey shifted his head and Ian bit his ear. 

“There’s thinkin’”Mickey said slowly

”And then there’s doin’.” Mickey said in a low hot tone and Ian’s whole body flashed hot. Ian lowered his mouth and breathed in his skin, he brushed his lips against his neck and felt Mickey’s skin turn into goosebumps. Mickey turned his head and Ian lifted his and he saw Mickey’s eyes hot on his. 

Ian lowered his tongue and felt Mickey’s come out to his. He took his mouth hard and felt Mickey’s arms grip into his waist, the rush was instant and hard. Mickey pulled him in and Ian pushed his arms up over his head and opened his eyes. Mickey’s eyes were on his and he held his gaze and lifted his head. He moved his hand down to his face and pulled it up and he kissed him deeply. He felt like he was drowning and Mickey was the air that he needed. Mickey pushed at him and he was on his back Mickey was over him and his head was lowering to his cock. He closed his eyes and panted arching his back. Mickey’s mouth covered him on one motion and he sucked hard. Ian’s eyes flew open and he looked down at him, he was moving hand and fast and Ian felt the slices of heat tear through him. 

“Jesus.” He panted and grabbed the blankets under him. He sat up and pulled Mickey up and pushed him forward. Mickey went over and Ian held his shoulder and gripped his hand. He heard Mickey grunt and he guided himself into him with a steady thrust. 

They moved hard and fast, and Ian covered Mickey’s shoulder with his mouth, Mickey’s head came up and he moved harder under him.

“Fuck.” Ian hissed out and felt himself start to come, he stopped moving but Mickey held his hand and braced against him. He came buckling against Mickey’s back gasping against the sheer pleasure that rushed and tingled through him. He felt Mickey lower them down and he pulled at Mickey’s waist and turned him over on his back, he lowered his mouth to his neck.

“Mmm.” Mickey murmured and held his head. Ian licked his chest and bit his side, Mickey arched against him and watched him. Ian teased over his cock with his lips and Mickey gasped and hummed low in his throat. 

Ian took him in his mouth and felt Mickey’s firm grip on his head. He sucked him steadily circling him with his tongue and heard him pant and hiss until he felt him about to go over. He sucked hard and Mickey growled low in his throat and came for him. He watched his face twist and his chest heave and closed his eyes and teased over his cock with his tongue. Mickey’s body jumped as he grunted. 

Ian smiled and crawled up beside him, he was lying still with his eyes closed, only his chest was moving. He brought the blankets up over them and fixed them over Mickey’s waist, he reached his hand to his and brought his hand up over his chest threading them together. Mickey’s fingers were relaxed in his and he looked over his face. 

‘Man, I’m lucky.” He thought and squeezed his hand, he felt Mickey squeeze his fingers and saw the corner of his lips turn up into a smile. Ian smiled and closed his eyes, his family was here and safe in the quiet house they loved and they were all going to sleep half the day away. 

‘And that's just perfect.’ He thought as he drifted off to sleep. 

 

Luke woke up slowly, he saw the angle of the light and even without his glasses knew it was late morning. He had slept well and didn’t have a nightmare, he reached over for his glasses and slipped them on. He saw that Mickey was gone but he knew he had stayed there until after he had fallen asleep, he had a vague memory of Ian coming in and them walking out of the room together. He closed his eyes and let his breath come steadily. He had stayed in his room while they had worried about him, he had finally unlocked the door but that had been tough. He trusted that they wouldn’t hurt him but he was afraid of hurting them. 

His life before them was a blur of hunger and pain, he would get smacked for being in the way when his father wasn’t high and sometimes when he was high he was nice to him. His mother was a desperate woman and her desperate need was love, usually with some sort of drug attached. He talked to Elizabeth quite a bit and he liked her a lot, she was kind, thoughtful and extremely intelligent. She didn’t flaunt it but it was something she was proud of and it was a big part of her persona, Luke had heard it in her voice. 

She was like him.

She was a lost soul as he was and he had known right away, she didn’t tell him much but she had told him enough for Luke to know no matter what he said he wouldn’t shock her. He had opened up to her a little at a time and now would start the conversations with questions about his behavior. 

“Why did I lose it when I hit the wall?” He had asked. 

Elizabeth had looked down at him from across the table in the little coffee shop they went to talk and had been quiet for a moment while she collected her thoughts. 

“I think you knew you were in a safe environment and the anger needed to come out.” 

Luke had looked out the window they sat next to and Elizabeth had waited patiently for him to speak. 

“I don’t remember.” He had said quietly. It was disconcerting for him to know he couldn’t remember, he wished he could forget most of his life but to be so enraged that he couldn’t remember his actions was a little scary.

“That must be difficult.” Elizabeth had said and Luke could hear the sincerity in her voice. She was an intellectual as well and she knew they counted on their minds to not fail them.

“Will it happen again?” He had asked. 

“I can’t answer that.” Elizabeth had said. “But you had just been through a terrible ordeal and pushing down the emotions that come along with that can lead to what happened that day. You were in a fugue state and it’s not uncommon for your emotions to overwhelm you enough that your brain shuts down for a moment.”

“A fugue state?” he had asked with a smile. 

“Yes why?” Elizabeth had said smiling back at him. 

“A fugue in musical terms is a style of song.” He had said. 

“What kind of song?”

“It has a melody that starts alone and a harmony is layered over it. Another melody is layered over it in different keys and it sounds like a big mess but the more that’s added the better it sounds.”

“So you can say that your mind is doing the opposite, it’s stripping away the layers and bringing you back to the original melody.” Elizabeth had said. 

“Hmm.” Luke said. “So that was the last melody first?”

Elizabeth had laughed lightly. “Yes, if you like.” She had said. 

Luke opened his eyes and let out a long breath he knew yesterday another layer had been striped or added, he wasn’t sure which. He felt his stomach roll thinking about his mother trying to shove him in the car. He didn’t know what he was going to do but he knew he was never going back to her again. He had always changed his mind about her before but now he knew he was never going back. 

Even if Ian and Mickey decided he had to leave he was not going back. 

There was a nervous jitter in his stomach, would they make him leave? He took in a deep breath and calmed his mind carefully, he had been here 5 months and it was his first real home. They were fun and sweet and crazy and he loved them. They weren’t like him but that just made things more fun, seeing things from their perspective. Mickey with his quick mind and constant swearing, Ian with his great big heart and sarcastic wit. 

He pushed off the blankets and stood up, he was still dressed from last night and walked to his dresser to take out clean clothes. He pulled out a t-shirt and shorts and changed quickly, he heard Ian and Mickey in the hallway and realized they must have just woken up. He stood for a moment and wondered again if they’d want him to leave. He stopped his mind and shook his head, he knew he was trying to protect himself. From his conversations with Elizabeth he had learned some coping skills for when these thought came to his mind. 

He remembered Ian stepping up to his mother. 

“He’s not going anywhere with you.” Ian had said. 

He remembered Mickey coming in his room and sitting with him. 

“Or fucking red, whatever man.” Mickey had said. “It’s your room.”

‘This is my room and I have people who care about me.’He thought firmly and felt better as he opened the door and turned into the hallway. He walked up to the opening and saw them standing with their backs turned to him in front of the coffee maker. Ian turned around with a big cup in his hand and waved vaguely at him with droopy eyes. 

Luke smiled and waved, Ian was not awake for a few minutes when he woke up and his heart warmed knowing this was just like any other day. 

“Hey.” Mickey said as he turned to him. 

“Hey.” He said and walked through the kitchen, as he walked up Mickey held out a mug to him. Luke smiled again, he didn’t drink coffee every day but it was a reminder of the morning after they had gone to get his violin. Mickey flashed a smile at him and poured more coffee for himself. 

Luke walked over to the table and sat across from Ian who was glassy eyed and holding his head in his hand. Mickey came and sat down with a grunt, they drank coffee in silence and all of Luke’s earlier thoughts completely disappeared. 

Ian blinked his eyes and focused on him. 

“Morning.” Ian said with a sleepy smile. 

“Good afternoon.” He said.

“Oh huh.” Ian said and rolled his head around to squint at the clock. 

“Fuck it, it’s Saturday.” Mickey said as he slid a cigarette out and held it up. 

“Is it?” Ian said. “Nights fuck me all up.” Ian closed his eyes and drank more coffee. 

“We can still get some yard work done.” He said.

“Nah, not today.” Ian said. 

“Huh? Why not?” He asked.

“We’re taking the day off.” Ian said. 

“Fuck ya we are.” Mickey said handing the cigarette out to Ian. 

Ian closed his eyes and took a long drag. 

“Ya?” He asked. They both nodded sleepily. 

“OK.” He said and drank more coffee. Ian held out his hand and Mickey took the cigarette. 

“I’m gonna sleep all day.” Ian said. Mickey smiled with his teeth over his bottom lip and he took in a sharp drag from the cigarette. 

“Hm.” He murmured and looked down into his coffee. They had plans, if you could call sleeping all day a plan and there was no yard work to do.

“What are you gonna do?” Ian asked. 

“I don’t know.” He said with a shrug. 

“Eh, do nothing.” Ian said. “That’s what summers are for.”

Luke pushed the handle of his mug back and forth, he had a new piece he was working on but they were going to be sleeping. He had lots of books to read but he had been reading for weeks and it was summer. He thought about texting Jenny and asking what she was doing today but she might ask him to come over again and Mickey and Ian would be “sleeping.” 

He had seen Mickey’s face when Ian had said he was going to sleep all day. He wasn’t stupid and he had really good hearing, he had made it a point to put his headphones in at night as soon as he got the MP3 player. 

“Is Carl working today?” he asked. Ian’s eyes focused on his and he looked up. 

“Ahhh, I don't know.” He said. “Call him.”

Luke nodded. Carl had offered to take him shooting when they had first met at the time he had been too shy to say yes but he thought it was time to take him up on the offer. 

 

“Brace your legs, one hand over the other, look down the barrel of the gun.” Carl said. 

“OK.” Luke said. He checked his stance and his hands. 

“Now picture someone you want to kill.” Carl said. 

Luke saw his father’s face over the white paper down the lane.

“Keep your breathing steady.” Carl said.

Luke took in and let out a long slow breath. 

“Squeeze the trigger.” Carl said. 

Luke lined up the shot and aimed it at the outline of the head at the end of their lane. He squeezed the trigger and the gun shook in his hand. 

“Nice.” Carl said. Luke looked at the paper at the end of the lane and it wasn’t centered but it was inside the head. 

Luke lined up his second shot and kept his breathing steady. He squeezed the trigger and hit closer to the center. He lowered the gun a fraction and hit the chest area, he tested his shots and hit the chest three times as he moved the gun slightly. 

“You’re a fucking natural.” Carl said. Luke lifted the gun up and looked at Carl.

“Geometry is life.” He said. Carl smiled and held his hand out. Luke handed him the gun and Carl replaced it with a bigger gun. 

“Ohhh.” Luke said smiling. 

“This bitch has some kick.” Carl said. 

“Hmmm.” Luke said. He took deep breathes and braced his legs, he placed one hand over the other and lined up his shot. He squeezed the trigger and felt the push on his arms from the gun, it vibrated through him. He hit the chest area.

“Whhhoooaa.” He said. 

“That’s some fuckin’ power man.” Carl said. 

Luke set up his next shot and saw his father’s face in the white outline. He squeezed the trigger and his lips went back into a hiss when he saw the hole that was made dead center. 

“He’s fuckin’ dead man.” Carl said with a smile.

“Ya he is.” Luke said and held the gun up and smiled back. 

 

They walked through the hall of the police department and Luke heard grunting coming from a room to his right, he looked in as they passed and saw men and woman hitting bags and wresting around on a mat. He stopped and watched them, Carl came up beside him and walked into the room.

“Come on man.” He said. 

Luke hesitated, shooting was one thing it was a weapon but this was hitting, hitting was pain and he wasn’t sure how he would react. He didn’t want to ever feel the way he did the day in the office again and he didn’t want to flip out in front of Carl. 

Carl was pulling on gloves and stringing them up onto his hands. Luke walked in the room slowly and kept his eyes away from the people hitting in the room. He took slow deep breathes and walked over to Carl as he punched his hands together. He waved a gloved hand at the gloves all in a row on a bench, Luke looked down at them and turned around to Carl. He was standing in front of a big bag looking over at him, he let his hands swing to his sides. 

“I’m not sure about this.” He said and let his eyes fall to the floor. 

He heard a thunk and looked up, Carl was swinging at the bag hard and it was moving back with the force of his punches. Luke watched him, his legs were braced and he grunted with each punch. The bag was huge and Carl looked small in stature and may look weak at first glance but he obviously wasn’t. He moved the bag harder and harder, grunting until he swung out hard with one final blow and the chains jangled and it swayed back further than it had before. 

Carl took hard breathes and looked down at him. Luke turned around and picked up a glove, he slid it on and Carl came around him. Luke held up his hand and Carl tied the strings, Carl reached for another glove and held it out, Luke slid his hand in and clenched his fist as Carl tied the other string. 

Carl punched his hand together with a tilt of his head, Luke narrowed his eyes and punched his hands together. Carl walked over behind the bag and held it, he took a deep breath and stepped up to the bag. 

It was big and he felt very, very small. He looked at Carl and he had a glint in his eyes and he nodded firmly. 

Luke held his arms up like he saw Carl hold them and swung out, he hit the bag but it didn’t move. 

‘Well that won’t do at all.’ He thought and braced his weight on his back leg. 

He swung and the bag moved a fraction. 

“Good.” Carl said. He hit it again and it moved a little. 

“Heh.” He said and hit the bag with each fist smiling. 

“Ya.” Carl said smiling. Luke hit the bag over and over and felt a streak of relief go through him, he didn’t feel like he did when he hit the wall. He didn’t feel the anger rise up but what he did feel was a little sprig of control pop up in him. It felt a little odd, he was moving his body and not his mind but it felt really good. He hit the bag harder and let out a grunt, Carl smiled and pushed at the bag. 

“You got it man.” Carl said. 

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Luke said and hopped left and right like a prize fighter with a smile on his face. 

 

They walked home as the sun went down and Luke felt incredibly good. Carl had taught him how to punch and how to duck from a punch, he had caught him one time while showing him. He had shaken his head after the punch and Carl had stepped back. 

“Shit man.” Carl had said. 

“Please, you hit like a girl.” He had said. Carl had smiled and stepped back up to him with his arms up. He had a bruise on his cheek but it didn’t hurt. He had started with the bag and Carl had brought him to the smaller bag. Carl had let him get comfortable with that until he had brought him to the big mat in the center of the gym. 

“Hit me.” Carl said like he was asking him to pass the butter. 

“Umm NO.” He had said twisting his face up. 

“Come on man, you’re not gonna hurt me.” Carl had said. 

“Again ummm no.” Luke had said. 

“Punchin’ a bag is pussy shit, come on hit me.” 

Luke had sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“You’re crazy man.” Luke had said and held a gloved hand to his forehead. Carl had smiled with a gleam in his eye and leaned over clapping his hands, he turned his head and his eyebrows went up. 

“Finnneeee.” Luke had said with a huff. He braced his legs and swung his hand out, Carl went limp and rolled his eyes. 

“Frannie can hit harder man, come on” Carl had said. Luke put his hands up and rolled his eyes, he let his arms drop and he saw Carl’s face. He was totally serious, he wanted him to hit him. 

“OK.” He said and put a foot back and took a deep breath, he swung and used the force of his upper body like Carl had shown him and hit Carl square in the nose. 

SMACK. 

Carl stepped back and brought a hand up to his nose. He wiped his wrist under it and smiled when it came up bloody. 

“Nice.” Carl said and smiled at him. “Again.” Carl said and stepped back into the line of fire. 

“Why’d you want to be a cop?” He asked as they walked. 

Carl shrugged and said. “Cuz I can and it’s what I’m good at.” Carl said simply. 

Luke nodded, Carl was tough as hell and he had heard stories about when he was young from Ian, apparently there was a time when he was on the other side of the law and it had been a bit of a shock when he had announced he wanted to be a cop. 

“What’d do you want to do?” Carl asked. 

“Not be a cop.” Luke said quickly. 

Carl smiled and shook his head. “Nah man, you’d let everybody go.”

Luke sputtered. “HA.” He said. Carl ribbed him like a brother and he loved it, he treated him like he was family and had from the beginning. 

“Ya you fucking would.” Carl said. 

“Whatever man.” Luke said and rolled his eyes. 

“So you wanna do your music?” Carl asked.

Luke looked down at the broken sidewalk as he walked, it was his secret dream to play music but he had never said it out loud before. He wanted to play in a symphony orchestra and he didn’t care if it was big or small but he wanted it with all of his heart. 

To play every day for the rest of his life? It was a question he had started to ask recently and maybe if he worked hard and kept at it he could play his violin for a living. He’d have to live in a box on a street corner but that would be OK as long as he had the music. 

“Ya.” Luke said. “It’s what I’m good at.” 

 

Ian rolled next to Mickey and moved his hand over his back, Mickey hummed deep in his throat.

“We should get up.” Ian mumbled. 

“Oh I’m up.” Mickey said in a low voice. 

They had lounged around and spent most of the day in bed, they took their time and played. They had fun until things had turned hot and heavy and it was a good thing Luke wasn’t home because Ian had jumped Mickey in the kitchen and hadn’t had a thought in his head when his blood had gone white hot. 

“Hmm.” Mickey murmured and turned his head into his shoulder. He kissed his skin and Ian wrapped his arm around him. 

“Good day.” Ian said. 

“Really good.” Mickey said. Ian felt his hand moving up his side and opened his eyes. Mickey’s eyes were closed and he looked completely relaxed. He moved his hand over his back and over his hot skin to his shoulder, his fingers moved over his neck to his jaw. He slipped his lips over his and felt Mickey’s open for him. Mickey’s lips turned up into a smile under his lips and he smiled.

“What are you smiling about?” Ian said in a teasing tone. 

Mickey shrugged and let his smile fall away. 

“Not.” Mickey said. 

“Mm hmm.” He said. Mickey kept his face still.

“Why not?” Ian said and brushed his lips over his.

“Make me.” Mickey said and Ian laughed. Mickey broke his stony face and smiled, his eyes opened and Ian saw the sparkling blue he loved looking back at him. 

“Oh I bet I can.” Ian said. 

“Oh I bet you can too.” Mickey said and leaned over and his lips were on his and his arm was wrapping around him pulling him in. Ian felt a rush of love and desire flow through him, Mickey rolled over him and Ian opened his eyes and saw his smiling eyes over his. Mickey lifted his face and looked down at him. 

“Why don’t we do this every day?” He asked lightly.

“Cuz we have bills.” Ian said.

“Oh.. huh.. ya.” Mickey said and brought his hand to his face. 

“We could live on the beach in Mexico.” Mickey said lowering his lips to his for a quick kiss. Ian closed his eyes and felt Mickey’s weight over him. 

“Mmmm, yeah.” Ian said and rubbed his hand up and down Mickey’s back. 

“Bring the kid and some sunscreen and we’d be good.” Mickey said, Ian felt him shrug over him. 

“I like it!” Ian said as he opened his eyes. 

Mickey smiled sweetly and lowered his lips to his, Ian brought his hand to his neck. He smiled against his lips and Mickey’s eyes lit up. Mickey lifted his head and his fingers moved over his cheek looking down at him. 

“Hellooo?” Ian heard and smiled. Luke was home. Mickey tilted his head and lowered it for one last kiss. 

“Yo, you fuckin’ in there?” Ian heard and rolled his eyes. 

That was Carl’s voice. 

“YEAH!” He called out. Mickey rolled off of him with a hard laugh and he grimaced, he was never going to hear the end of this from Carl. Ian got up and grabbed his pants off the floor, he stepped into them and picked up Mickey’s shirt up. He lowered it over his head and pushed his arms through the holes as he opened the door. 

He turned into the hallway and saw Carl and Luke sitting on the couch picking up the controllers for the video game system. Carl had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and Luke was sitting back onto the couch next to him. 

Ian shook his head smiling, they were so fucking funny. Luke acted like a normal kid around Carl more than anyone, including him and Mickey. Luke laughed a lot and gave Carl shit like he was family, Carl was really good with Luke without even trying. Carl was just being Carl and Luke saw him right down to the bone. 

“Hey.” He called out. 

“Mm hey.” Carl murmured around his cigarette. “Done fuckin?” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Mickey said as he came into the kitchen. Carl smiled and took his cigarette away from his mouth, he hit buttons on the controller smiling. 

“Why the fuck are you here?” Mickey asked as he came through the kitchen 

“The kid likes me.” Carl said not looking up from the TV screen.

Mickey opened the refrigerator and took out three beers. Ian crossed his arms and looked over at Luke, he was pushing buttons and looking at the TV screen intently. Ian focused on his face and saw a shadow on his cheek, his eyes narrowed and he walked around the table toward him. He walked in front of them and saw Luke’s cheek had a dark bruise. 

“Hey?” Carl said. Luke looked up at him confused. 

“What happened to your face?” Ian asked. He heard the beers go down on the table hard. 

“Oh nothin’ we were just messin’ around and I got dinged?” Luke said waving a hand. 

Ian felt Mickey come up beside him and he saw Luke’s face fall as he looked back and forth between them. 

“I’m OK.” He said. Ian looked at Carl and he was trying to look past them to the TV.

“Come on man, move.” Carl said. 

“Messing around?” Ian said crossing his arms. 

“Ya.” Luke said. “At the gym.”

Mickey reached over and pulled the controller wire and it flew out of Carl’s hands.

Carl looked up and his hands went flat on his legs. 

“What the fuck.” Carl said with his eyes rolling. 

“You touched him?” Mickey said in a low voice and took a step forward. 

“Whoa, whoa.” Luke said and put an arm out over Carl’s body. Mickey didn’t stop moving, Carl sat up straight and Ian saw the look in his eyes. 

“HEY.” Luke said and Ian’s head went back, he had never heard Luke use a hard tone before. 

Mickey’s eyes widened and his head turned. He shifted his weight to one hip and zeroed in on Luke. 

“He was teaching me to punch and I got hit, I’m fine.” Luke said firmly. 

“Jesus Carl!” Ian said and held the bridge of his nose. 

“What?” Carl said. 

Mickey’s lips went back and he hissed looking at Carl.

“How are you that fucking stupid?” Mickey said. 

“Oh ya?” Carl said standing up, he leaned into a step and came toward them 

“JESUS.” Luke said. Ian saw him move fast in front of Carl. 

“STOP.” Luke said standing between them holding out his arms. 

“YOU.” He said to Carl. “Back the hell up.” Carl looked down at him and Ian saw a half smile on his face. 

“YOU.” Luke said to Mickey. “If you think I can’t take a hit from Carl you’re out of your freaking mind.”

Ian put a hand over his mouth to hide his smile, Mickey’s eyes went wide and he turned his head looking down at Luke. Mickey crossed his arms and Luke’s eyes stayed on Mickey’s until Mickey’s lifted his head and took a step back. Luke dropped his hands and stepped back to the couch, he dropped in his seat and picked up the controller he had dropped. Carl fell down beside him and Luke handed him the other controller. They both looked up at them waiting for them to move. Ian looked at Mickey and waved an arm up shaking his head, he nodded with a smile and they turned to the kitchen together. 

 

Mickey pulled up in front of the police station and turned the truck off, he had been here before many, many times and he smiled wickedly as he got out of the truck. 

‘Motherfuckers.’ He thought as he saw cops eyeing him as he walked to the doors. 

He pulled the door open and smiled at the guy in the little window. He stopped and looked up at him, his eyes narrowed and Mickey strolled past. 

He smelled cop and they smelled criminal, he thought as he walked down the long hallway. 

‘Former criminal, mostly.’ He thought. He still felt the pull of it but he knew if he gave into it his life with Ian could get fucked up and he was never letting that happen again. He never thought he’d be happy living a normal life but here he was, happy as fuck every single day. 

He turned around the corner and heard the grunts coming from the gym, he walked up to the door and saw Luke pulling on head gear over his head. He adjusted a strap under his chin and pushed up his glasses. Mickey turned into the gym staying against the wall and watched Luke pull on boxing glove as his eyebrows went up. Carl was talking to a big guy across from Luke and neither one of them had seen him yet. 

He leaned against the wall crossing his arms and saw Luke string one up and pull the other in with his teeth. He punched his hands together turning around toward Carl with a growl. Mickey smiled and pushed a hand over his mouth, Luke had grown but he was still pretty small but he was ready to throw down with Carl. 

Luke bounced back and forth on the mat with his arms at his sides, he rolled his head around his shoulder and Mickey snorted out a laugh. Carl saw him bouncing on the mat and nodded to the big guy and the big guy looked over at Luke with a smile and walked away. Carl leaned over and picked up the gloves in front of him on the mat.

Luke bounced up and down with his hands at his sides. 

“In this corner.” Luke said in a loud rolling voice. “From Chicago we have the skinny kid with the mean right hook and a deadly stare, weighing in at 130 pounds… CARL THE STRINGBEAN GALLAGHER.” 

“RAHHHHH.” Luke called out waving his arms over his head. Mickey laughed with his hand over his mouth. 

Luke let his hands drop. He waited a beat and brought his arms up to his sides, he bounced left and right and skipped his feet around the mat. 

“And in this corner.” Luke said. “Is the kid with a smart mouth and power in his punch, weighing in at 100 pounds of solid muscle… “LUKE THE JEDI GALLAGHER.” 

“RAHHHHHHHH.” Luke raised his hands and Mickey rolled his eyes smiling, of course he was the fucking Jedi. He heard him use the name Gallagher and he felt his heart sqeeze, he used it for school but more and more he called himself Luke Gallagher outside of school. Luke bounced and Carl walked over the mat, Carl put his arms up and dropped them immediately giving Luke a hard look. Luke giggled and stopped bouncing, he braced on his legs and brought his arms up. Carl brought his up and they circled each other. Mickey watched Luke’s feet and he was moving well, he was watching Carl’s eyes and not his hands. 

‘Hm, maybe Carl was teaching him something. “He thought and saw Luke swing, Carl’s head went back and Mickey smiled. 

“Come on.” Carl said. Mickey watched Carl, he was right in Luke’s line of fire. He held his arms up but he had dropped them as soon as Luke had swung out. Carl dropped his arms and Luke hit him again, he was letting Luke hit him. Carl took two more hits before he shifted his weight and hit Luke in the shoulder, Luke’s shoulder went back but he held his ground. They exchanged hits and Luke took a hit in the chin and Mickey saw Carl wasn’t holding too much back. Luke took the punch and immediately hit him back. 

Luke shook off the punch and circled around Carl, he had a cold smile on his face and Mickey saw Ian’s smile on Luke’s face. Luke had been coming here with Carl for a couple of weeks, the first day he had been bullshit but Luke had said he wanted to keep doing it. Luke hadn’t come home with any more bruises so he hadn’t killed Carl…yet. 

Luke swung and Carl blocked him with his arms, Mickey straightened up and walked to the mat. Luke saw him and smiled. Carl saw he was distracted and punched Luke square in the face, Luke’s head went back and he went back on the mat with a thwack. 

‘Oww.” Luke said. 

“That's what’s you get when you don’t concentrate.” Carl said. 

Mickey walked up next to Carl and looked down at Luke.

“You can kill him now.” Luke said in a dead pan voice looking up at the ceiling. 

“Oh ya?” Mickey said. Carl sputtered and took off a glove. 

“Ya!” Luke said. Carl pulled off the other glove and laughed. 

Mickey held his hand out and Luke looked up at him and shot out an arm. Mickey pulled and Luke stood up on his feet. 

Mickey smiled down at him. 

“What?” Luke asked. Mickey stepped back and bent over pulling at his boot laces. 

“Take that shit off.” Mickey saidpulling his foot out and put a boot aside.

“Huh?” Luke said. Mickey waved a hand and pulled his other foot out. 

“Come on man.” He said. 

“Alright.” Luke said with a shrug. He pulled off the gloves and threw them toward the edge of the mat. He lifted the head gear and pushed his hair back, he threw the head gear and turned back to Mickey. 

“Glasses.” He said with a wave at his face. 

“What?” Luke said twisting up his face, he had seen his own face enough to know that was a face he made. He smiled and put one leg back behind him and dropped his arms. 

‘Let’s go.” He said. 

“I can’t see without them.” Luke said.

“Nope.” Mickey said. He saw Luke’s eyes go hard and he smiled. He walked backwards, circling Luke.

“Are you serious?” Luke said. 

“You think someone’s gonna wait for you to find your glasses when they fall off, come on.” He said and waved his hands up. 

Luke tilted his head and his mouth twisted, he nodded and walked to the edge of the mat. Carl held out his hand and Luke took off his glasses and folded them neatly, he placed them in Carl’s hand and Mickey moved across the mat behind him. Luke turned around right to where he was standing and Mickey slid his tongue over his grinning mouth.

Luke walked backwards with his arms up and Mickey circled with him. 

“Keep those superpower ears open.” Mickey said. Luke nodded and Mickey took two quick steps forward, Luke stepped back and swung. Mickey felt the smack as he hit him in the mouth and nodded. 

“Good, but you don’t just have hands use them feet.” Mickey said. He backed up and Luke braced on both legs in front of him. Mickey moved forward quickly and swung an arm out carefully, Luke pivoted, grabbed his wrist and pulled it up.

“Nice.” Mickey said smiling. He bent over pulling his jeans up and Luke copied him. 

“Come at me.” He said. 

Luke tilted his head and focused.

“I promise I won’t hurt you.” He said. 

“I know.” Luke said with a smile and rushed him. Mickey pulled him down toward the mat but caught him before he hit. 

Luke smiled. “Cool, teach me.” Luke said. 

Mickey laughed and pulled him back up to his feet. 

 

Ian was back on days and still adjusting to the time change. It happened every time, days blurred together and when he finally adjusted to nights he was back on days again. There was a position available right now that was all day shifts but it was management and it would mean less time at home. He didn’t want to spend time away from Mickey and Luke. It was something to think about down the road though, it including training new EMT’s and he really liked that idea. 

He drove home and it was nice to see daylight again, he listened to the radio and tapped his finger to the mix Trevor had given him. He was going back to volunteer this weekend and he was thinking of asking Luke of he wanted to go but he wasn’t sure if he should. The kids had been through similar experiences and Ian didn’t want to bring up any bad memories, Luke was still fragile. 

He thought about him stepping up to Mickey and Carl a few weeks ago.

‘OK maybe not fragile.’ He thought and tried to think of the right words. ‘Handle with care’ came to mind and he nodded. 

Ian pulled down his street and smiled when he saw Mickey’s truck, he was home early. He pulled in beside his truck and turned off the car, he opened the door and slammed it behind him smiling. Luke was probably playing his violin while Mickey sat on the couch with a beer. He unlocked the door and opened it, he heard a grunt and Mickey flew past him into the wall. 

His mouth dropped open as Mickey slammed into the wall. Ian saw him tilt his head and smile, he looked where Mickey was looking and Luke stood braced on his legs with a hard smile on his face. Mickey started forward and Ian’s mouth dropped open wider. 

“What the….” He said as Luke sidestepped and kicked Mickey hard and shoved Mickey down to the floor, Luke backed up as Mickey stood up. 

“…fuck is happening.” 

They ignored him completely and kept their eyes on each other. Luke backed up and Mickey brought his arm back, Luke was already swinging and hit Mickey square in the nose, his head snapped back and he sniffed smiling. Mickey rushed him and Ian saw them go down in a crash onto the floor. 

He saw Mickey over Luke and Ian felt his heart drop down to his knees. Luke smiled and punched Mickey in the throat, Mickey coughed and sat up and Luke was able to get out from under him. 

“Nice.” He said and shook his head bringing up his hands, it was nice but he shouldn’t SAY it!

He glanced back at the wall, there was damage to the brand new wall where Mickey had hit. He shook his head.

“Great. “He said bringing his hand up and turning back to his loving husband and sweet kid trying to kill each other. 

Luke was pouncing on Mickey, Mickey caught him and pulled him down and Ian saw Luke’s elbow shoot up him into Mickey’s face. 

‘Oww.” Ian said and Mickey hissed. 

Luke got away from him and laughed as he circled Mickey. 

Ian walked toward the kitchen hearing them growling and laughing. He opened the refrigerator and took out two beers, he opened one and his eyebrows went up and he took a long drink. He shook his head as he drank and lowered the beer. 

He knew Carl had taken him shooting and was showing him a few moves, he knew Mickey had told him he was teaching him how to fight but he had been tired and distracted at the time.

He hadn’t expected this, they were full out fighting. Mickey was holding back but Luke was not.

He heard a crash and saw the video controllers go skidding across the floor. He opened the freezer and took out two bags of frozen vegetables. He heard Luke panting and Mickey laughing, they were both on the floor. 

“Ding.” Ian said. Luke laughed and Mickey lifted his head and looked over at him. Ian smiled and lifted his beer. Mickey smiled wickedly and stood up, his eyes came to his and Ian saw his eyes sparkle, he felt a hot rush of heat move through him. 

Ian watched him come around the table and turned his head, Mickey bit his lip and brought his tongue out to the corner of his mouth. He picked up the beer on the counter and twisted off the top as Luke came around the table. 

“Hey.” Ian said and held out the frozen vegetables to him. 

“Thanks.” Luke said with a sunny smile. He pushed the vegetables against his elbow and sighed. 

“That floor sucks.” Luke said. 

“Mm.” Mickey nodded. Ian held out vegetables to him and he took a step toward him.

“Thanks.” Mickey said low and deep. Ian felt his gut roll and lifted an eyebrow, Mickey drank his beer and his eyes were hot on his. Ian shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath. 

“So we’re hosting the WWE?” He said casually. 

“Kid came at me.” Mickey said shrugging. 

“HA! He was askin’ for it.” Luke said.

“Uh huh. Where are your glasses?” He asked as he put his beer down on the counter beside him. 

“Uhhh, my room?” Luke said. 

Luke switched the vegetables to the other arm. Mickey put the bag he held down on the counter and turned Luke toward it, Luke put his down and rested both arms down on them.

“Ahhhhh.” He said closing his eyes.

“How long have you been doing this?” Ian asked. 

“Huh?" Luke said and his eyes popped open “You didn’t know?” 

“He knows.” Mickey said. 

“I thought you told him?” Luke said. 

“I did.” Mickey said. 

“Ya OK!?” Luke said. 

“I fucking told him.” Mickey shot out. 

“He just asked.” Luke said with his voice rising. “So obviously ya didn’t.”

“Ask him why he fucking asked, cuz I fucking told him.” Mickey said. 

“I don’t have to ask because he didn’t know huh did he?" Luke said raising his arms and held them out. 

“Ian, tell him I fucking told you.” Mickey said as he waved an arm out. 

“He doesn’t have to because he just told me.” Luke said as he put his hands on his hips. 

They both looked at him with identical pissed off eyes and he had a sudden realization. 

“Oh my God.” Ian said and brought his hands to his face and pulled them down over his mouth.

“What?” Luke and Mickey said at the same time in the same tone. Ian picked up his beer and started forward, he walked through the kitchen into the hallway, he turned into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He lifted his beer up and drank it straight down as he heard them in the kitchen. 

“What’d you say?” 

“Nuthin’ you were standing right here. What’d you say?”

“Nuthin’” 

“The fuck?

“I don’t know man.”

He took the beer from his mouth and closed his eyes, they were bickering but it sounded like Mickey talking to himself, he loved with Mickey with all of his heart and every fiber of his being but he was suddenly living with two Mickey’s. 

He heard a crash and Mickey laughed low in his throat. 

“You’re goin’ down kid.” Mickey said. 

“Ya whatever, bring it.” He heard Luke say. 

Ian closed his eyes and brought his hand up and smacked his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke came awake slowly as he heard his alarm go off, he hit it and swiped the screen turning his head away. His thoughts floated around, why had he set the alarm again? It was summer and every day was wake up whenever and do whatever. 

‘First day of high school’ Luke remembered and blinked his eyes open. He reached out for his glasses and the comics he’d been reading fell to the floor and he ignored them. He pushed his glasses on and sat up with his hand moving over his head. He blinked and yawned standing up and picked up the first pair of jeans he came to on the floor and pulled them on. He bent down and picked up the shirt he had on yesterday, he sniffed it and it smelled halfway decent and pulled it over his head and pushed his arms through, he tripped on something and looked down. It was a pile of Lego’s he had been messing with last night, he stepped over them and opened the door. 

He heard Ian and Mickey and wiped a hand over his eyes under his glasses smiling. He always heard them in the morning and it was nice to hear them laughing or better yet bitching at each other. 

“Hey.” He said as he came around the corner.

“Good morning freshman.” Ian said brightly with a big smile and Luke grunted at him. 

He heard Mickey laugh as he walked to the refrigerator and pulled it open. 

“So early.” He said pulling out the juice. 

“Yes but we have waffles.” Ian said in his ridiculously bright tone. 

Luke gave him a dirty look and Ian tilted his head at him, he felt one corner of his mouth go up in a smile and Ian nodded and turned back to his waffle maker he was super crazy about. They had given it to him for his birthday and he had immediately made waffles for every meal for days, waffles with strawberries, waffles and chicken, waffles with vegetables inside. That last one had been a bust but he hadn’t given up, it was waffles, waffles, waffles. He and Mickey had had to sit him down and gently let him know he had make something else besides waffles, he had taken it relatively well but still made waffles at least twice a week. 

“Smells good.” He said and opened the cabinet for a cup, he pulled it down and poured it as he walked behind Ian and shuffled to the table. He slurped it down walking around Mickey and sat down bringing the cup down and lifted the cup to pour more in. 

“I voted for fucking bacon.” Mickey said and lifted his mug. 

Luke nodded and sighed loudly. 

Ian ignored them and Luke smiled into his cup, he was thinking about it though he saw as he stopped and picked up his mug taking a quick drink. Ian turned and walked to the refrigerator.

“I might have….Ah.” He said and pulled out the bacon. Mickey glanced at him and smiled, there were ways to get Ian away from his waffle obsession and he had learned quickly from Mickey, his Obi Won on all things Ian. 

Luke giggled quietly as Ian leaned over and brought out another pan and dropped the bacon in. 

“Nice.” Mickey said and picked up his phone, he let out a long sigh. 

“I gotta go, you all set?” He asked Luke. 

“Yep.” Luke said with a nod.

“Alright, don’t knock anyone up huh?” Mickey said and Ian laughed from the kitchen. 

“Oh my God.” Luke said and smacked a hand to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. “Must you?” He asked in a desperate tone.

“Yes, I must.” he said with a smile in his voice walking to Ian. He rolled his eyes open and shook his head. 

“Man.” He said. 

“Later.” He said to Ian and squeezed his waist, Ian leaned over smiling and kissed his cheek. Mickey’s eyes turned into his and he smiled biting his lip. He walked toward the table and leaned over him and pushed his hand over his hair. 

“See ya kid.” Mickey said and he grumbled but smiled pulling away. 

“See ya.” He said and Mickey flashed him a smile and headed for the door, Ian watched him walk out and waved a spatula at him. He heard Mickey laugh and close the door. Ian hummed and pushed the bacon around. 

“Big day.” Ian said. 

“Ya,” He said and drank more juice. “I’m a little nervous, the place is so big.” 

“Yeah, it’s not hard though once you get to know your way around.” 

“The college classes are monsters though.” He said.

“Hm, hey if you can’t swing it all you can change classes.” Ian said as he moved to the waffle maker and smiled at the golden brown outside. 

Luke smiled, the thing made him so happy he was fine with eating waffles more than anyone else in the world. Ian lifted the waffle out and dropped it on a plate and Luke stood up and walked back to the cabinet, he brought down another plate. 

“Sit.” He said. 

“Huh.” Ian said.

“Sit, I’m making you breakfast.” 

“Nah, come on you have school in like an hour.”

“Ya, so? I can make bacon and I’ve seen you make so many waffles I can do it in my sleep. “He said waving Ian toward the table. Ian looked down at him and smiled. 

“OK.” He said and waved his hands up. He walked to the table with the waffle on his plate and Luke opened the refrigerator. He pulled out the syrup and the strawberries, he knew they were Ian’s favorite. He carried them over to the table and put them down next to Ian.

“Ooohh.” Ian said and picked up a strawberry. “Thanks” He said around it and Luke went back over to the stove and flipped the bacon. He saw Ian dig into the waffle and shift in his seat murmuring in pleasure. He totally got why Ian was always feeding them, it was his way of showing them how much he cared and Ian cared a lot. 

He sprayed the waffle maker and poured in the batter.

“What’s first period.” Ian asked. 

“English.” He said and lowered the top down. It was kinda fun he thought and moved back over to the stove. 

“Oh ya,” Ian said with his mouth full. 

Luke picked up the bacon and out it on the plate already covered with paper towels.

“Can I ask you something? “ Luke asked.

“Ya.” Ian said and Luke covered the bacon with the outsides of the paper towel. 

“You were 15 when you met Mickey right?” He said. 

“Uh yup.” Ian said nodding. Luke lifted the waffle maker top and lifted out the waffle, it looked pretty good. He lowered it to the plate and picked up the two plates and turned toward the table. 

“Did you like know?” Luke said and Ian stopped chewing and his eyes followed him as he came around the table. 

“Know know? No.” He said and Luke twisted his face up and sat across from him. 

“HA!” Ian said with a smile. “I didn’t know then, no.” Ian shook his head.

Luke shrugged and picked up a piece of bacon, Ian’s eyes were focused on his. 

“Is this about Sherry? Jerry?” Ian said and picked up a piece of bacon. 

“Nah, she was like two weeks ago anyway I was just wondering.”

Ian smiled and pushed the syrup across the table. 

He upended the syrup and let it drown his waffle. “Other people aren’t like you and Mickey, like together.” He said.

Ian shook his head slowly and picked up a strawberry. 

“What’s that about?” he said and picked up his fork and stabbed at the piece of waffle and shoved it in his mouth. He chewed the big piece and looked up at Ian. 

“Hmm.” Ian said sitting back. 

Luke watched his mouth twist right and left. 

“OK.” Ian said nodding. “We’ve been through a lot and there were times I thought I’d never see him again. I know what I have because I’ve lost it. “

“Huh.” He said. He couldn’t imagine that, they were always together except very rarely and even then they would smile like they hadn’t seen each other in a week. 

Ian looked down at the table and Luke could tell he was somewhere else. He picked up a piece of bacon and munched on it while Ian thought. 

“It’s like your music.” Ian said finally. “It calms you and makes you happy at the same time right?”

“Ya.” He said and slurped up his juice. 

“It’s like that but it comes from a person.” Ian said quietly.

“That’s how you feel about Mickey?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Ian said with a smile. 

“And there was never anyone else?” Luke asked. 

“I didn’t say that.” Ian said. 

“Ohhh.” Luke said nodding and Ian laughed. 

“No not like that.” Ian burst out. “We broke up a few times.” He said. 

“Ah.” He said nodding. 

“You know Trevor.” Ian said.

“Uh huh.” Luke said. 

“He’s my ex.” Ian said.

“Oh I know.” Luke said cutting his waffle. 

“You do?” Ian said.

“Oh ya, Mickey’s voice is all dark and murdery when you talk about him.”

Ian burst out laughing and sputtered out, “Murdery?” 

Luke nodded and smiled. Ian caught his breath while Luke thought about relationships, he had wanted to ask Ian about them for a long time. 

“So, it was bad?” He asked. 

“What with Mickey? No never but it was complicated.” Ian said. 

“The course of true love never did run smooth.” He said.

“What’s that?” Ian asked.

“Shakespeare.” Luke said around his waffles. 

“He was right.” Ian said with a nod and picked up his empty plate. “You better get movin’, shower go.” Ian said. 

“K,” He said and shoved bacon into his mouth and picked up his plate and carried it to the sink. He picked up more bacon and Ian looked up at the clock. 

“And you’re going…” Ian said waving both arms out of the kitchen.

“Yep, going, showering! High school! Woohoo!” He said and raised his arms. 

Ian laughed behind him and he smiled turning into his room. He opened his drawer and picked out a t-shirt and a pair of clean shorts and jeans. The first day of school was always the best day and this year was even better because all the same people would be there, he wouldn’t be the new kid. He grabbed his clothes and headed for the shower and heard Ian in the kitchen.

“HA! Murdery!” Ian said and laughed again. 

 

It was day three of high school and Luke was getting the lay of the land, he couldn’t believe how many girls there were walking around with everything hanging out and he had almost walked in a wall while watching a nice butt walking away….twice. 

“Get it together Gallagher.” He said to himself. He gave himself a mental shake and headed to the music room, the auditions for the band were today and he wanted to get there early. He had brought his violin in today and carried it in the case Ian had found for him. It was covered with old stickers from the previous owner, he had no idea where the original violin was but like to think it was somewhere with its person playing sweet music. He saw the big doors and took a breath, he was nervous. He didn’t play in front of people but he wanted to play with an orchestra and for now this was as close as he was going to get.

He pulled on the big door and stepped in to the big room with chairs and instruments everywhere. The door thunked closed and he looked around smiling. 

“Yes, can I help you?” He heard. The voice was cold and judgmental. He looked over and saw a tall balding man with a wide chest looking over at him. He had glasses on his head and bow tie over his sweater vest. 

“Hello, I’m here for the auditions.” He said calmly.

“Mm.” The man said and pulled his glasses down from his head. He looked him up and down and tsked.

“What do you play?” he said in a bored tone. 

Luke lifted the case but the man wasn’t looking.

“Violin.” He said and the man’s eyes shot up to his, he heard a low grunt but Luke heard a laugh in it.

“Name?” he asked and pulled over a sheet of paper in front of him.

“Luke Gallagher.” He said and the man’s eyes rolled and he opened his mouth.

“Gallagher?” He said and dropped the pencil.

“Ya, Gallagher.” Luke said and felt the anger rise in him, he was judging him on the way he looked and his name and he hadn’t even pulled out his violin. 

“You play the violin?” he asked in a haughty tone.

“Is there an echo in here?” Luke shot out.” Yes my name is Luke Gallagher and I play the fucking violin.” 

“Oh really?” he said.

Luke realized what he had said and twisted up his face.

“You’re not playing anything in my band.” The man said. “You just bought yourself three days of detention. 

“Fuck.” He said and smacked his head.

“Make that five.” The man said and Luke shook his head but kept his lips tightly together as he mumbled every name he could think of as he walked out of the room.

 

Luke stormed into the house and threw his bag down, no one was home yet and he needed to vent. 

“Fucker.” He said. “Motherfucker.” He said and stomped into his room. He kicked at the clothes on the floor and put his violin on his dresser, it was the only clean spot in the room. He clenched his fist thinking of the music teacher’s nasty tone and rolling eyes. He bared his teeth and kicked the bed hard and the bed moved with his kick, he nodded and turned around crossing his arms and sat down. 

Asshole was all ‘Gallagher? ‘He hadn’t even played!!

“Grraafuck.” He growled and shot up from the bed. He walked quickly through the house into the living room and grabbed up his bag, he ripped opened the pocket on the side and took out his phone dropping the bag. He scrolled scowling and saw Carl’s name, he hit his name and crossed his arm over his chest bringing the phone up to his ear with a stone cold look on his face.

“Sup kid?” Carl asked in his growly tone.

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

“Nothin’ just laying low and getting’ high.” He said and chuckled.

“You got your gun?” he asked.

“Yaaa.” Carl said.

“Good, I’ll be there in 20.” He said.

“Alright man, who we killin’?” He asked but Luke was already hitting end and reaching for the door, he locked it and walked quickly down the street.

“Fucker’s messin with the wrong kid.” He said and headed toward the Gallagher house with murdery eyes. 

 

Mickey felt his phone vibrate and ignored it, he was almost done taking down this wall and it was a bitch. He got most of it and was taking the last big swing when he felt his phone vibrate again. He threw the sledgehammer and it clacked over the floor.

“Jesus Christ” He said as he pulled it out and saw Fiona’s name. “Da fuck?” He said and his accept.

“What?” He said. 

“Mickey?”

“Yaaa???” he said.

“You better get over here.”

“Huh?” he said. 

“Luke’s planning on taking out his music teacher.” She said.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“Carl and him are searching for his house right now.”

“The fuck?!?! Wait what? Luke?” He said.

“Ya.” Fiona said. 

“Carl is going to help Luke kill a music teacher?” he said slowly and raised his eyebrows.

“Uh Ya.” Fiona said. 

“He’s a fucking cop!” Mickey said and waved his hands out grimacing and widening his eyes. 

“Ya and he’s high as hell right now.’

“Motherfucker.” He said as he hit end. 

Luke wanted to murder someone? Luke, short kid, glasses? Nah, he thought but she wouldn’t have called him unless it was true. 

He walked to his truck and pulled open the door, he threw his hard hat aside and started up the truck with a roar. He turned the wheel and shot out of the spot and sped his way toward the Gallagher house. 

 

“You enlisted Carl to kill your music teacher.” Ian said and paced back and forth across the living room floor. Luke sat with his arms crossed on the couch. 

“He’s not MY music teacher, he’s THE music teacher.” Luke said and Ian stopped and glared at him. 

Ok maybe that was too far he thought and he turned away. Mickey was sitting in the chair in the corner with a beer and he could tell he was trying not to laugh. Ian was bullshit and he only knew about the murder plan and not the detention.

“Can you tell me whhhhyy you would plan on murdering THE music teacher with my brother? Because I would really, really like to know. “Ian had a tone that was steel and ice and he looked over at Mickey and he shook his head, Luke knew he was telling him to not fuck around. 

Luke let out a long breath and dropped his arms.

"I went in there for the audition and he’s all what do you play and I say violin and he looked at me like I was a bug like really bad then he asked my name and I told him and he said Gallagher? like I was fucking Hitler or something man and that really pissed me off but I tried to stay cool and he says you play the violin? like it was fucking crazy that I play the violin and I say YES my name is Luke GALLAGHER and I play the fucking violin and he was all you’re not playing anything in my band." 

Luke waved his arms up and let them fall taking a deep breath after all the explaining. 

“He gave me detention.” He said quietly looking down at his hands. He ripped at his finger nails and sighed. 

“What the fuck for?” Mickey shot out. 

“Swearing I guess.” He said and shrugged a shoulder. He looked up at Ian and they were looking at each other with pissed faces. 

“The guy heard his name and that was it.” Ian said and he crossed his arms. 

“Uh huh.” Mickey said nodding.

“Alright.” Ian said. “No murdering him and that’s final.” Ian said and Mickey raised a hand, he turned to Luke and he stared down at him.

“Fiiine…geez.” Luke said and rolled his eyes. 

“But we’ll go tomorrow and have a little talk with the man.” Ian said and Luke smiled at Ian’s cold smile and narrowed eyes. 

“No guns.” Ian said and Mickey raised a hand. 

“I wasn’t gonna bring one.” Mickey said shaking his head. 

“Uh huh.” Ian said and turned toward the kitchen, Mickey turned his eyes on his and nodded smiling. Luke giggled and he heard Ian call out,

“I mean it!”

Mickey smirked and Luke giggled louder. Mickey smiled and took a long drink of his beer with his eyes shifting back toward Ian to check if he was looking and nodded again.

 

Mickey pulled open the door to the school and they walked in with Luke between them. They had found out the guy’s name and were here before school to ‘talk’ to the man. Mickey saw the look in Ian’s eyes and he knew he wanted to kick his ass but they would see how things went. He’s was down for a good ass kicking he thought as they fell in step together through the school. 

He had been totally shocked when he had found Luke on the computer looking up a music teacher and was actually planning something, he didn’t think it was murder but he looked more pissed than he’d ever seen him. He had pulled him out by his shirt with Luke bitching at him the whole way. The kid could swear like a truck driver that’s for sure, he had a mouth and it was a direct result of living with them and he was cool with it. Ian on the other hand was all he shouldn’t be murdering people. 

“Not murder, just shoot him in the leg or something.” Mickey had said waving a hand. 

Ian had stared at him for a long minute. 

“What?” He said and Ian had put his hands over his face and started talking to himself. 

“He’s going to end up in jail….” He had mumbled walking away. “A genius IQ and what do we do, we teach him how to swear and plan murders…”

“Hey.” Mickey said. “Come on man.” Mickey had said and he heard Ian muttering. 

Luke walked ahead of them a few steps and walked up to the double doors and opened one holding it for them. They walked in behind him and Luke walked over to the man at the desk and stopped in front of him, the guy didn’t even look up.

“Excuse me.” Luke said politely and the man shifted his eyes up to Luke and sighed. His eyes kept going and they widened as they came up to him and Ian. They both had hard looks on their faces and they guy’s mouth opened and he pushed his chair back, his eyes fell to Luke quickly and back up to them.

“Uhmm, Luke, wasn’t it?” He said.

“Yes.” Luke said. “And you’re Mr. Grover and I think we may have had a little misunderstanding yesterday.”

Mickey glared at him and turned his head, his eyes shifted away and he cleared his throat. 

“Is that right?” Mr. Grover said. 

“Yes and I’d like to apologize for my language.” Luke said and Mr. Grover looked back and forth between him and Ian. 

“I see.” He said and Mickey smiled at him. 

“I think we can forget about the detention.” Mr .Grover said. “Since you’ve come to speak with me.” He said and let out a breath.

“Thank you.” Luke said. Mr. Grover turned his eyes down and looked back up at Luke when they didn’t move.

“Yes?” He asked.

“I’d like to play.” Luke said. Mr. Grover shifted his eyes between them and nodded.

“An audition only.” He said and held up a finger. Ian sputtered and Mr. Grover looked up.

“I understand.” Luke said and turned around and smiled up at them. Mickey smiled at his face and slid his hand over his shoulder giving Mr. Grover a long hard look. Luke put his case down and opened his violin. He lifted it and walked back in front of Mr. Grover, he waved a hand but he was smiling a little. 

“Go ahead.” He said and he looked back down at his papers. Luke lifted his violin and went still, Mickey saw him take in a breath and let it out slowly. He lifted his hand over the violin and the bow moved over the strings. He played and Mr. Grover looked up, the more he played the more surprised Mr. Grover looked until he was sitting back with a dazed look on his face. Luke ended the song and there was total silence in the room. Luke opened his eyes and looked over at Mr. Grover, he was blinking at him not saying a word. 

“Ummm.” Luke said.

“Oh my.” Mr. Grover said. “That was beautiful” 

Mr. Grover was smiling at Luke, he stood up and walked around his desk. He walked up to Luke and held out his hand. 

“May I?” he asked and Luke held out his violin. 

“This is a lovely piece and well cared for.” He said. Luke nodded and looked over his violin as Mr. Grover flipped it over. 

“I must say that was unexpected.” He said handing the violin back to Luke. “I shouldn’t have judged you, you were correct about that, however there will be no swearing in my music room. 

“Does that mean I’m in?” Luke asked. 

“It does.” He said.

Luke bounced once and said “Yes!!”

“I’d also like to speak with your parents about after school work with you, are they available?” Luke looked up at him with confused eyes and looked over at them.

“They’re right there.” Luke said and held out his bow at them. 

“Ohhh, I see.” Mr. Grover said and turned to them. 

He saw two very different people then the ones who had walked in, first because Luke had confronted the situation and had handled himself and second when Mr. Grover had asked about his parents Luke had looked over at them immediately and pointed at them without a second thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Ian lifted the star on the Christmas tree and stepped back. He looked it over with a critical eye, it was all color and light with mismatched balls on it he had dug out and swiped from the Gallagher attic. 

“It looks great!.” Luke said and he turned around to him, he was sitting on the floor in the mess they had made putting the tree up.

“Ya?” He said and looked back at the tree. “What’s your feeling about tinsel, too much?” He asked.

“What’s tinsel?” Luke asked and Ian turned his head and smiled.

“What’s tinsel?” He said and kneeled in front of a box and rummaged through it and found a broken box of tinsel. He held it up with his eyebrows up and Luke giggled at the look on his face. 

He opened the box and pulled it out and threw it over Luke. 

Luke lit up and caught a few pieces.

“Oh cool.” He said and smiled. They were defiantly doing tinsel. They stood up and Luke watched him pull the tinsel over the branch and he held out the box and Luke pulled the tinsel over the branches smiling. He went to town and by the time they were done it looked like it was frosted with silver.

“Very nice.” Ian said with his arms crossed. 

“Ya.” Luke said beside him. 

“Come on, we still have 500 cookies to make.” He said and they left the mess and headed to the kitchen. 

He had volunteered his cookies to a charity event for the Center and he had been baking all day. Luke was helping him, he would roll out the cookie batter and push the cookie cutters over it. Ian would make more cookie dough and take them in and out of the oven, if they kept it up they’d be done in no time. 

Ian walked to the sink and washed his hands and saw Luke smiling at the tree and picked up the towel smiling. Luke stepped up to the sink and washed his hands quickly and he handed him the towel. Luke put it aside and out his hand. 

“Ready.” He said and Ian pushed the cookie cutter into his hand. Luke leaned over the cookie dough and pushed the cutter down. They had music in the background and it was Christmas music but not any Christmas music, it was the Boston symphony orchestra and Luke would occasionally stop what he was doing and tilt his head to focus on the music. 

“It’s almost been a year.” Ian said. 

“Oh ya.” Luke said and stopped cutting to smile up at him. 

“Doesn’t feel like it.” He said.

“Nope.” Luke said and switched cutters, he chose a tree cutter and Ian smiled as he started pushing it down and placing them carefully on the cookie sheet. 

Ian thought about him when he had come that night and he was unrecognizable as that kid. He had grown about 4 inches and his face had filled out as he had gained weight, he was still thin but he wasn’t skinny anymore. But the physical changes were nothing compared to how far he’d come mentally and emotionally. He was comfortable now and every bit a normal teenager almost to the point where he drove him crazy, he played his music too loud and refused to clean his room. He would pile the clothes in one corner and say it was clean. 

But that’s what teenagers did and as much as it drove him nuts it also made him happy. Mickey didn’t care about the loud music or his room. He got to be fun and Ian had to be the bad guy always bitching at Luke. 

‘Fucker.’ Ian thought. 

Luke was happy and loved school, he stayed after most days with lessons with Mr.Grover and didn’t get home until dinner time. He had a new girlfriend every month or so but still hadn’t brought any of them around. That was ok, he would eventually. 

“We should do a party.” Ian said.

“For what?” Luke said. 

“For you being here a year.” Ian said and Luke nodded. Ian looked closer at his face, he was thinking about something hard. 

‘Shit.’ Ian thought. How stupid could he be, a party? When he had come he’d been beaten up and he didn’t want to celebrate that.

Ian shook his head at his own stupidity and pulled open the door of the oven. He shoved them in and slammed the door shut.

“What’d those cookies ever do to you?” Luke asked. 

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“Huh? I’m not mad about the cookies.” Luke said with a smile. “You can beat them up.”

“No about the party that was stupid.” He said. 

“What? No, I think it’s a good idea.” Luke said. “Heidi can plan it.” He said with a smile.

“Ya.” Ian laughed out. 

“It’ll be good.” Luke said and Ian saw a flash of something in his eyes but didn’t push. 

They cut and baked for a while listening to the orchestra play.

“Can I ask you something?” Luke said and Ian smiled.

“Ya.” he said casually.

“Why’d you do it?” Luke said pushing a cutter into dough. 

“Bring you home?” He asked and Luke nodded and looked up at him. Ian opened his mouth but stopped. He didn’t know if he could explain it. 

“The only way I can really explain it is Mickey and I went through some stuff back in the day and when I looked at you I saw us then.” He said and shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.” 

“Yeah it does.” Luke said nodding. Ian picked up another cookie to frost and thought about the next morning. 

“I came home and told Mickey about you and he said call Westford.”

“He did?” Luke said 

“Ya,” Ian said licking frosting off of his finger. “Just like that.” 

“I always thought it was your idea.” Luke said. 

“It was and it wasn’t.” Ian said.

“Ok THAT doesn’t make sense.” Luke said. 

Ian laughed and nodded. “Mickey knows me well enough to know it’s what I wanted before I even knew it.” He said. 

“Huh, that’s pretty cool” Luke said. 

“Yeah it is.” He said. “But it was Mickey that made it happen.”

“So you just decided.” Luke said.

“Well there was more to it but basically ya.” He said. 

“Guess it was my lucky day.” Luke said and Ian felt his heart shake. Luke beaten and broken was now his ‘lucky day’ because it brought him to them. Ian felt his eyes sting and blinked them back, he picked up the cookies and frosted while Luke hummed along to the music. 

“You nervous?” Ian said. 

“A little.” Luke admitted shrugging a shoulder. The Christmas concert was in two days and Luke was doing a solo for the first time. 

“Everyone’s coming.” Ian said and bit into a cookie.

“Greeaaat, no pressure.” Luke said dryly and rolled his eyes. 

 

Mickey drove home through the snow with his wipers flipping back and forth. Tonight was Luke’s concert and of course it had to fucking snow like crazy today. Luke had been quiet that morning and had sat at the table with his headphones in eating cereal staring into space. He had waved a hand over his face and he hadn’t seen it. 

He had pulled out an earphone when he left “Bye Luke.” He had said with a smile. 

“Ya k bye.” Luke had said and waved.

He felt his phone buzz as he pulled into the driveway he pushed the truck into park and turned the key. He lifted off the seat and dug out his phone. It stopped ringing as he hit accept and saw that it was Sutter. 

Probably just wanting to come with us he thought and pushed open the door and walked through the snow to the door, he unlocked it and felt the heat in the house and sighed. 

“Hey.” He said and no one answered. He unzipped his coat and the house was quiet. He hung up his coat and walked through the house pulling up his sleeves and his phone buzzed again. He pulled it out and opened the fridge.

“Frick, what’s up?” He said with a smile and reached down for a beer.

“The piece of shit who beat Luke is out.” He said and Mickey stopped.

“When?” he said quietly as he stood up and closed the door. 

“Earlier today.” He said and he heard the strain in his voice. 

“Where is he?” he said with a growl.

“Chicago.” He said and Mickey’s brain went dark and his heart turned in his chest. He put the phone down and opened the cabinet, there was a gun hidden under the shelf and he pulled it out and walked toward the hallway. He walked down the hall and saw their bedroom door open and walked to Luke’s room, the door was closed and he heard muffled groans.

He bared his teeth and turned the knob throwing the door open, it hit the wall and he braced on his legs with the gun up.

“Shit.” He heard and saw tits. Wait, huh? 

He heard screaming and saw Luke frantically covering the girl who was half naked screaming under him. 

“Hey.” He said and put the gun up and Luke was glaring at him, he smiled at him and nodded. 

“Nice.” He said and giggled when the girl screamed again and sat up.

“Get out.” Luke said and threw a book at him, he sidestepped and smiled. 

“Finally brought a girl home huh?” 

“Jesus.” Luke said getting up and coming at him in just his shorts, Mickey laughed as he shoved him out the door. Luke slammed the door in his face and he heard the girl sputtering and crying. Luke was trying to calm her down. Mickey shook his head rolling his eyes, she was so not the right girl for him if she couldn’t handle one gun. He giggled and walked down the hall toward the kitchen, he saw the phone and remembered Sutter. 

He picked it up and heard Sutter swearing into the phone.

“Hey.” He said.

“What the hell Mick?” Frick shot out. “I heard screaming.” 

“Aw it’s nothin’ Luke brought a girl home.” He said waving the gun in his hand.

“You coulda fuckin told me.” Sutter said. “I am not a young man, you could have given me a heart attack.”

“Ya man sorry.” He said and scratched his head with the gun. 

“Jesus you’re gonna kill me one of these days.” Sutter said and Mickey smiled.

Mickey turned around when he heard Luke’s door slam open. 

“Heather.” Luke said calling out to her. She rushed past the kitchen and Luke followed her. 

“Come on, it’s was just one gun.” Luke said and Mickey raised his hand with the gun and tilted his head. 

“Right?!.” Mickey said. 

“What?” Sutter asked.

“Huh? Nothing, Luke’s chasin’ a girl.” He said and watched the girl put on her shoes and grab her coat. 

“At least let me give you a ride.” Luke said in a calm voice. The girl waited with her back turned and Luke turned to him. He put the gun down and lifted his keys out of his pocket as Luke came toward the kitchen, he tossed them and Luke caught them. Mickey lifted his eyebrows and Luke glared at him shaking his head. 

Mickey smiled and watched Luke unlock the door for her and pull it open. 

“Luke’s chasing a girl?” Sutter asked. 

Luke slammed the door and Mickey smirked. 

“Ya, 14 and she’s half naked in his room.” He said and opened the refrigerator smiling. 

“Really?” he said 

“Yep.” He said “Kid’s a playa'.” He twisted off the cap and took a long drink.

“Why’d she scream?” Sutter asked.” What’d you do?”

Mickey scowled and brought his head down, pulling the beer away from his mouth. 

“Nothin.” He said in a hard tone. “She was just.. .I don’t know… girl like.” 

“Girl like.” Sutter repeated. 

“Ya you know, like a girl.” He said.

“Oookaay.” Sutter said. Mickey huffed out a breath and pushed his beer across the counter.

“Forget it man, where is he?” he said in and he listened to Sutter as his eyes narrowed. 

 

Ian pulled into the driveway and slammed on the brakes, he was so late. He had picked up a Christmas present and thought it would take 5 minutes but he had waited in line forever. He saw Mickey’s truck was gone.

“Shit.” He said and pulled open the door. He rushed through the snow and saw headlights behind him and turned, Mickey’s truck pulled in beside his car and that wasn’t Mickey driving. He squinted in the light and saw Luke get out and slam the door behind him.

He walked fast around his car and right past him saying, “I’m gonna kill him.” 

“Luke.” Ian said calmly. “You’re not killing anybody.”

“Oh ya?” Luke said as he pushed the key in the door and shoved open the door. 

“You!” Luke said and Ian walked in behind him. He was pointing at Mickey. 

“Oh shit.” Ian said as he closed the door. 

“Where do you get off busting into my room like that huh?” Luke said as he marched over to Mickey. Ian saw Mickey wave his beer out and open his mouth. 

“Because of you Heather will never talk to me again.” Luke said. 

“Heather?” Ian said and Luke whipped his head around. 

“Just getting up to speed.” Ian said putting his hands up and turned his head to Mickey when he turned away. His eyes lit up and flashed with laughter before seeing Luke’s eyes come back to his. 

“I heard moaning and shit.” Mickey said with a shrug. 

“Moaning?” Ian said and Mickey flashed him a wicked smile. 

“So not the time.” Luke said putting a hand up firmly. 

“Oh right.” Ian said and looked up at the ceiling. 

“I didn’t know you had a girl in there.” Mickey said. 

“So you just had to bust in?” Luke said waving his arms out. 

“She was pretty built though.” Mickey said. 

“You saw her?” Luke said in a long suffering tone and lifted his hands to his eyes pushing his glasses up. 

“They were kinda hard to miss.” He said and Ian tried to hold in the laugh but it busted out and he giggled and Mickey laughed and tipped his beer up to his lips his eyes sparkling at him. 

“Oh. My. God.” Luke said and dropped his arms. “I hate you both.” 

Mickey nodded and smiled wickedly at him and Ian giggled as Luke stormed out of the room.

“You busted in on him.” He said.

“Ya man.” Mickey giggled walking over to his boots and picked them up.

“So why will Heather never talk to Luke again?” he asked hanging up his coat. 

“He had a freaking gun!” Luke called out. 

Ian turned toward his voice. “Ohhhh.” He said and turned back to Mickey. 

“We don’t have to leave yet.” He said.

“Yeah I know.” Mickey said as he tied his boot. “I have something to take care of.”

“Tonight?” Ian said and Mickey looked up at him.

“I’ll be there.” He said and stood up smiling at him. He walked around the table.

“Come here” He said and brought his hand up to his neck and kissed him. His tongue moved into his and Mickey pulled at him. Ian’s hands moved over his waist and pushed at his jaw. 

“Oh ya sure, you can go at it in the middle of the living room but me no, I have a crazy person bust in with a gun.” He heard and Mickey smiled against his lips, their eyes opened and Ian saw Mickey’s eyes laughing into his. He pulled him in for one last kiss and turned to Luke.

“Next time lock the fucking door.” He said with bright smile and a wave of his arm. He squeezed Ian’s hand and reached for his coat. 

“Where are you going?” Luke asked. 

Mickey smiled over at him and pulled on his coat. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there.” He said and Luke nodded. 

Mickey waved at him and turned to the door. Ian stopped him and turned him around and Mickey’s arms came around him. 

“Be safe.” He said quietly. Mickey nodded against him and pulled him in tight. 

Mickey kissed his jaw as he pulled away smiling at him.

“Later.” He waved to Luke and unlocked the door pulling them open. Ian closed the door behind him and turned to Luke. 

“Where’s he going?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Ian said. 

“Yes you do.” Luke said immediately. 

“Alright, I’m not sure then.” Luke shifted his eyes back to the door. 

“Ok.” Luke said and started to walked toward the hallway. 

“Wait.” Ian said and Luke stopped. Ian walked to the table and took a deep breath. 

“There’s one thing you need to know about Mickey and it’s the most important thing. Mickey loves a couple people in this world and he loves them with all of his heart, he’s do anything for someone that he loves and that includes you.” Ian said and Luke looked down at the floor. 

“If he had to take care of something tonight it was something important but if he says he’ll be there, you can be sure he’ll be there.”

“I know.” Luke said and let out a long dramatic sigh. “Ok I won’t kill him in his sleep.” Luke said smiling rolling his eyes,

“HA! Please don’t, I kinda like him.” Ian said. 

“HA!” Luke shot out. “Ya, kinda! He said waving his arm out and headed back to his room to change for the concert. 

 

The SUV pulled up into an empty parking spot and Mickey was already pulling open the door. Sutter hit the brakes and Mickey dropped out of the car slamming the door behind him. Sutter came around the car and they walked the long way to the front doors. The parking lot was full and they had had to park way in the back. 

Mickey jogged up the steps and opened the door with Sutter behind him, the lobby was mostly empty and Mickey tried to remember where the auditorium was. He saw people headed down the hall and waved a hand to Sutter. They made it down to the door just as two kids were starting to close them and they walked through and Mickey looked around the huge room. The curtains were closed and people were already seated, he started down the stairs scanning the seats and saw Ian’s red hair and smiled. 

“Can’t miss him.” He thought and nodded his head toward him. He saw Ian turn his head and scowl when he saw him. He waved a big arm up at him like he couldn’t already see him, Mickey smirked and headed for the empty seat next to him. Sutter moved in the row behind them and sat in the empty seat Ginny had saved for him. 

“Cuttin’ it close.” Ian said. Mickey waved a hand up and sat back, Ian whipped a hand out and held his wrist. Ian’s eyes were on his bloody knuckles and he shifted his eyes back to his. 

Mickey shrugged and Ian glared at him, the light went down and Mickey waved a hand at the stage. Ian gave him a long hard look and let go of his wrist. 

Mickey sat up and the curtain opened slowly, the crowd applauded and Mickey saw Luke immediately, he as sitting right at the front in a white dress shirt and Mickey saw the blank scared look on his face. 

He brought his fingers up to his lips and whistled between his teeth quickly, Luke’s face changed and he smiled looking over toward him squinting through the dark. Luke settled back and picked up his violin and Mickey saw his chest rise and fall as his eyes closed. He reached out his hand and Ian’s hand came to his and squeezed it hard, he looked over at Ian and he looked like he was the one on stage. Mickey squeezed his hand and Ian brought his eyes to his, Ian’s face relaxed and he let up his death grip on his hand. 

Mickey looked back to the stage and the music started, Luke was playing with a smile on his face and opened his eyes after a minute. Mickey looked around at the other kids and they all looked down at the stands in front of them seriously but Luke had a serene look on his face and didn’t look down at the notes in front of him. 

Mickey felt Ian’s hand relax and the first song ended and he heard the Gallagher’s behind him clap and cheer, Luke smiled brightly as he heard them. He saw Ian pick up the program out of the corner of his eye and glanced over, he couldn’t see in the dark and reached out his free hand, Ian handed it over and Mickey squinted in the dim light. 

There was a list of names and songs next to them and he read down the list and Luke was last. 

‘Fuck.’ He thought. ‘We’re gonna be here all night.’ He pushed the program back at Ian and sat lower in his chair, might as well take a nap. He closed his eyes and put his head back, Ian’s hand was still in his and he let his mind drift while he heard a flute start from the stage. 

He clenched his fist and felt the sting smiling, he had had a little talk with the piece of shit who had beat the fuck out of Luke and Sutter with all of his rules was right beside him. 

“This him?” he said as Sutter had pulled him out of the SUV and the guy had stumbled and hit the ground. 

“Yep.” Sutter said. They had met at the docks where it was nice and isolated.

Mickey took a long drag of his smoke and looked down at the tall skinny man who flipped over in the snow, he wasn’t wearing a coat and Mickey smiled wider. He had shaggy hair and a beard and he was filthy. 

“Who the fuck are you?” The guy said and tried to stand up. 

Mickey grabbed him by the neck and shoved him back hard. 

“What the fuck?” The guy said and Mickey stepped over him and the guy brought a hand up. “I don’t know who you are but whatever man, just let me go.” 

“Ya you don’t know who I am.” Mickey said and threw away the smoke, he crouched down and the guy pushed himself back in the snow. 

“Nah.” Mickey said shaking his head and grabbed him by his hair and pulled it. They guy froze and Mickey brought his face to his. 

“But you’re gonna remember me.” He said with a cold smile. 

“You’re going to feel every fucking thing you did to Luke.” Mickey said and the man gave him a blank stare.

“You piece of shit.” He said and punched him, he went down into the snow and grabbed his shirt and pulled him up, his eye was bleeding.

“You like beatin’ up little kids.” He said and saw his eyes widen.

“Oh he gets it now.” Sutter said. Mickey glanced up at him and saw Sutters face, his eyes were dark and Mickey nodded.

“Ya think so.” Mickey said and turned back to the guy. He was shaking his head furiously and Mickey smiled. 

“Oh yes.” He said. “Ya know I don’t know where the kid got his smarts.” He said casually and shoved the guy down. 

“Sure wasn’t from him.” Sutter said as Mickey stood up.

“Fuck no.” He said and brought his leg back and kicked him hard in the ribs. 

The filthy man grunted and curled up.

“Nature, nurture.” Sutter said as he leaned over to pick him up and brought his arm back and punched him so hard Mickey heard his nose break.

“Huh?” Mickey said as the guy went down and he walked over and pulled him back. He straddled him and held his head as he punched him hard breaking his cheekbone. The guy screamed and Mickey smiled. 

“Just a theory.” Sutter said and came over to stand over them. Mickey stood up and Sutter kicked him, he flipped over and Sutter walked and kicked him. The guy rolled through the bloody snow grunting as Sutter growled and kicked. 

Mickey seethed with fury, the guy hadn’t blinked when he had said Luke’s name. Sutter kicked him one last time and stepped back. He heard his let out a long slow breath and Mickey took out his flask from his pocket and twisted it open, he took a long drink looking down at the piece of trash in the snow. He wasn’t moving but he was still breathing. He handed the flask over and Sutter took it and drank quickly. 

The guy moaned and his legs moved in the snow. 

Sutter handed back the flask and Mickey slipped it in his pocket and they moved back to him on either side.

“Think we’re done?” Mickey said and raised his eyebrows clenching his fists

“We’re just gettin started.” Sutter said cracking his knuckles. 

They had taken turns on him but didn’t use weapons, that was Sutter’s only condition and he had agreed. 

Mickey let out a breath and stood up, he looked down at him. He face was busted up and he was holding his ribs. He had at least 6 broken ribs by Mickey’s count, double Luke’s. 

“We have to go.” Sutter said and Mickey nodded. He reached down and lifted the guys shirt, he didn’t struggle against him. He whipped it off and his eyes flew open. 

Mickey laughed low in his throat and the guys eyes widened in fear, he thought he was going to fuck him. He pulled at his shoes and his feet moved.

“Don’t fucking move.” He said and the guy froze. Sutter leaned over and pulled at his jeans. He pulled them off and he was in the snow in nothing but tattered shorts. Sutter grabbed the clothes and Mickey pulled him up by his hair and right up to his face. 

“Hey.” He said and his eyes rolled open. 

“This is nothin’ compared to what I’ll do to you if you ever come near Luke.” Mickey hissed out. “He’s my kid, not yours! You hear me?”

He didn’t answer and Mickey seethed and pulled his hair harder. 

“Nod your fucking head if you hear me scumbag.” He growled. 

He nodded once with his eyes closed. 

Mickey let go of his head and he fell back into the snow. He picked up the shoes and they turned around together and headed for their trucks.

“Want a ride?” Sutter said. 

“Ya.” Mickey said and pulled open the door throwing the shoes on the floor as he pulled himself up into the truck Sutter threw the clothes behind his seat and slammed the door closed. Mickey looked over at the guy in the snow and he was moving one hand.

“Still breathin.” He said and looked over at Sutter. 

“Yep.” Sutter said and looked through the window at the guy. 

“Come on man we’re gonna be late.” He said and pulled out his flask.

“Shit.” Sutter said turning the key and pulling the truck into gear. He hit the gas and Mickey tipped up the flask and took a quick hit. 

“You got lights and sirens?” He asked. 

“Of course.” Sutter said and reached over and flipped a switch. 

The lights went on and Sutter sped up. 

Mickey laughed, he was in the front seat of a cop car with a cop who was his friend speeding toward a Christmas concert his kid was playing in. Ian was there waiting for him like he always was and always would. All of this, his life now was because of Ian. 

Everything was because of Ian because Ian was everything. 

 

Mickey blinked open his eyes and sat up pushing his fingers over his eyes, it felt like they had been here for hours. 

“One more.” Ian said next to him and he yawned and shook his head to clear it. All the kids were sitting in their places and would come up to the front of the stage for their turn. The tall kid on the stage started playing a saxophone and it was a blues song Mickey kind of recognized. He was pretty good he thought and looked over at Luke, he was sitting back listening to the saxophone with a little smile on his face. 

He had heard Luke practicing but had no clue what he was playing when his turn came up, Ian had said the kid’s got to pick what they played and some of them were OK but a couple sounded like animals dying a long slow death. He let his head fall back and looked over beyond Ian, Heidi was there and he smiled. Her eyes were glued to the stage and she looked like she was in heaven. She had taken it well when Luke had moved on from his crush on her, they still spent tons of time together and she was always taking Luke out somewhere. Mandy was next to her, you rarely saw one without the other. Mandy looked over and waved, he smiled and nodded to her. 

Luke was in straight teenage boy fucking heaven with the two of them. 

Lip was next to Mandy. “Hmph.” He murmured. Lip was alright, he had helped Luke with his college courses cuz him and Ian were fucking useless when it came to that shit. Carl was next to Lip looking as bored as he was, he sat low in the seat with his leg across his knee with his phone in his hand.

Mickey reached in his pocket and brought out his flask, he tipped it up and took a sip. He handed it to Ian and he took it without looking over. The kid on stage finished the song and he felt Ian’s fingers tighten on his. He smiled and Ian held the flask without drinking, his eyes on the stage. 

Mickey laughed quietly and took the flask from his hand and put it away. 

“Shhh.” Ian hissed and Mickey watched Luke stand up, everyone around him cheered and whistled and Ian was the loudest. 

Luke lifted his violin and waited for them to quiet down.

“Shut the fuck up.” He said and they shut the fuck up. 

Luke pushed the bow over the strings quickly and Mickey heard.

Doom da da da da doom da da da da and he tilted his head. 

‘Is that..?’ He thought. 

Mickey heard it and his heart almost fell out of his chest. He felt Ian looking at him and he squeezed his hand. 

Luke stopped for a beat and his knee bounced once. He pushed the bow over the stings and it was clear what he was playing. 

Metallica. 

Luke was playing Mickey’s favorite Metallica song. Ian squeezed his hand and Mickey nodded, he couldn’t talk around the lump in his throat and saw Luke smile into the crowd toward him. 

He smiled and blinked his eyes quickly and watched him play with smile on his face. Luke’s head moved with the music back and forth. He played faster and faster until he came to the guitar solo and Luke’s eyes narrowed and he played his violin like a rock star. 

Mickey remembered the night in the car with Luke. It seemed like a long time ago, he had barely known that kid but the kid on stage was his and the song he had picked out to play was for him. 

“Man.” He said pushing a hand over his smiling face and turned to Ian, Ian’s eyes were sweet and happy and he felt his heart melt again.

He wiped a hand at his eyes and pulled Ian’s hand over his lap and turned back to Luke with a long breathe. Luke played slower and the song trailed off into silence, the crowd was quiet and Mickey lifted his fingers and whistled loudly and all the Gallagher’s and company jumped up and cheered screaming their heads off. Luke beamed over at them and shrugged a shoulder up, Mickey saw him scan the crowd until his eyes came to him, he nodded and clapped standing up next to Ian. 

Mickey whistled again and Luke took a step back and took a bow with his arms out wide beside him. Ian’s arm came around him, he shook his head and looked at Ian. 

Ian smiled at him and he felt the lump in his throat again. 

“Fuck.” He coughed out and Ian pulled him in.

 

Luke sat back in his chair smiling and heard the cheering Gallaghers, they weren’t stopping and he laughed and looked out at them. 

He waved a hand down, they didn’t stop and he shook his head and put up a hand. The quieted and he glanced over at Mr. Grover who was looking over at him with a haughty stare. He turned his head and gave them all a hard look and they settled down. 

He pulled in his violin for the last song and Mr. Grover lifted his hand and brought it down. He played the first notes of Silent Night. It was his favorite Christmas song and had played it so many times over the past few weeks Ian and Mickey were humming it constantly. The music moved through him and he felt the rest of the instruments play with his. He moved through the music and felt every note. He moved the bow slowly over the last note and he smiled holding it for a beat. The audience applauded and the Gallaghers were cheering again. He laughed and found Ian and Mickey, they were standing up with huge smiles on their faces, Ian waved at him with his big hand. 

‘That’s my crazy family.” He thought and waved back at Ian with a smile. 

 

“Come on man get up.” He heard and grunted. 

He heard a low laugh, Mickey. 

He pulled the covers over his head.

“Nooo.” Ian.

“Yaaa.” He said. They both giggled and he pulled down the blanket past his eyes and blinked. They were two blurs topped with orange and black. 

“What time is it?” he asked and closed his eyes.

“Who the fuck cares, it’s Christmas!” Ian said and giggled and Luke smiled slowly. 

“Glasses.” Mickey said and he reached out a hand and he felt Mickey put them in his hand. He shoved them over his face with his eyes closed and let his arms fall to his sides. 

“K.” He said. They stood over him and he felt their stares.

“Yep, moving.” He said and rolled to his side. He blinked his eyes open and they were beaming at him like sunlight and he held a hand up as he sat up on the edge of the bed.

“Can we turn down the Christmas cheer just a little?” He asked. 

“Nope.” Ian said. “Nah. Mickey said. 

He laughed and stood up, they turned and he followed them yawning. His feet shuffled and he walked into the kitchen with his eyes half closed. There was food everywhere, he and Ian had been cooking for days. They were going to the Gallagher house for dinner but before and after everyone was coming here. The smells were amazing and he had probably gained about ten pounds in the past week. 

Ian was carrying something to the table and he opened the fridge, it was stuffed full of food and he looked around until he saw the juice and picked it up. Ian handed him a cup and he smiled sleepily. 

Ian laughed and he walked to the counter and put down the cup, he opened the juice and lifted it to pour into the cup. He glanced over the living room and blinked, there were presents under the tree that hadn’t been there last night. He blinked again and lifted the jug, Mickey was smiling walking toward the couch and Ian waved an arm at him. 

He looked over to the tree and he saw at least 15 presents. He giggled and lifted the cup and walked around the table into the living room. 

Luke sat on the floor with his legs crossed and Ian sat across from him, Mickey snorted out a laugh and pushed up from the couch and sat down next to Ian with his back against the chair. Luke smiled and raised his eyebrows closing his fingers together looking over the gifts. 

“Go ahead.” Ian said. 

“Hmm.” He said and saw one with Ian’s name and pulled it out. He handed it over and Ian reached for it, he looked to Mickey with a bright smile. Luke turned back and saw one that said Mickey and pulled it out and handed it to him, Mickey chuckled and took it. He saw his name on a box and pulled it out and put it in front of him. He looked back and forth between them.

“And GO.” He said and they all ripped open the presents at the same time. 

 

Luke sat in a pile of wrapping paper and presents and was happier than he had ever been in his life, it wasn’t the presents although the new bow was awesome. It was his first real Christmas and it was the best Christmas ever in the history of the world. He had Star Wars action figures, new books, clothes and fuzzy pajama pants but the bow was the best, it was so cool and he kept running his hand over the shiny wood. 

“It’s the right kind?” Ian asked and he looked over at Ian sitting next to Mickey.

“Oh yeah.” He said smiling. Ian nodded reaching over for Mickey’s coffee mug and smiled standing up, he kicked through the wrapping paper toward the kitchen. 

“Good cuz man if it wasn’t the guy at the store would be sorry to see your ass again.” Mickey said and Ian laughed.

“He drove that guy crazy with a million questions.” Mickey said and Ian shrugged.

“Ahhh he was a dick I was just fucking with him.” Ian said reaching for the coffeepot. 

“Ya, OK?” Mickey said and Ian laughed in the kitchen. 

Luke felt a little bubble of nervousness and stood up heading toward the hallway. 

“He was a dick.” Ian said. 

Luke turned into his room and headed for the closet, he reached his arms up and brought down the bag he had hidden up there last week. He had been working at the grocery store after school a few days a week and they thought he was with Mr. Grover. He wanted to buy them Christmas gifts but he had never bought anyone anything before, he had asked Heidi for help and she had happily brought him where he needed to go and thought all of his ideas were good ones. 

“Ok.” He said to himself and took a deep breath. He walked back out of his room and down the hallway.

“Thought he was gonna start crying man.” Mickey said and Ian laughed wickedly. He walked into the living room and looked at them sitting on the floor next to each. 

They were kick ass, they were totally in love and he loved them. They were his family and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

He walked back to where he was sitting before and lowered down sitting with his legs crossed. 

“My turn.” He said and they looked away from each other to him.

“Huh.” Mickey said, Luke smiled and took out Ian’s gift from the bag and held it out.

“Luke you didn’t have to.” Ian said.

“Ya I did.” He said firmly and waved the gift. Mickey was biting his lip looking over at him, Ian took the gift and put it in front of him. His eyes looked back and forth between the gift and him. 

Luke reached back in the bag and pulled out Mickey’s gift.

“Aw man.” Mickey said and he held it out. Mickey put his cigarette in his lips and reached for the small gift wrapped with black wrapping paper. 

Luke waited, they looked at each other and over to him. It was torture waiting for them to open the gifts, he was freaked out enough already. 

“Well!!” He said and waved his hands up. Ian laughed and tilted his head and pulled at the paper. Luke put his head on his hands and closed one eye, he couldn’t watch but wanted to see his face if he liked it. 

“Oh wow.” Ian said and saw the box. He opened it and looked down at the stethoscope, it was shiny and black and was the best kind on the market he could afford. 

He had checked. 

“Luke.” Ian said and looked over at him, his eyes were wide and happy. Luke let out the breath he had been holding.

“I love it. “ Ian said and pulled it out of the box. His eyes focused on the silver bracket and Luke felt his heart squeeze.

“What’s that?” Mickey said blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth and Ian brought it closer to his eyes.

“It’s engraved.” Ian said. 

“Oh ya? With what?” Mickey asked.

Ian’s eyes filled and he held it out to Mickey. 

“January 12th.”Ian said. Ian looked over it and saw the lower silver bracket, he lifted it and turned it in his hand to read it. 

Their names circled the lower bracket in small script, IanMickeyLuke was engraved in the metal and where Luke’s name ended Ian’s name began. 

“I really love it, thank you.” Ian said and he reached over with his big arms out. Luke leaned over and Ian hugged him hard and he smiled. Ian ran a hand over his back and Mickey patted the back of his head. 

“Arrggg, breathing is good.” He said and Ian let him go with a giggle and a sniff. 

Ian pushed a hand under his nose and they looked over at Mickey. He crushed out his cigarette and grinned ripping open the paper, he looked confused and held up the small book. 

“It’s Henry the 5th.” Luke said. “Blood and guts and gore, you’ll love it!” 

Mickey smiled at him “Ya?” he asked. 

Luke nodded and reached in the bag again, there was a second gift for Mickey. He held it out and Mickey turned his head. 

“Come onnn.” He said and Luke smiled waving it with a big grin. He took it and his tongue came out to his top lip, Luke and Ian watched him tear the paper away, his face fell and his eyes softened when he saw the silver frame with a picture of Ian and Mickey sitting on the couch with Luke between them. They both had their arms around Luke and they were all smiling into the camera. Heidi had taken it for him and they had thought she was just picture happy that day. 

Mickey’s eyes came to his and he saw all the emotion in them, he smiled and held it out to Ian. Mickey smiled at the picture as Ian looked down at it. 

“Ian, Mickey.” Ian said and looked up at him. “Luke.” He read. Their names ran together in a circle at the bottom of the frame, inside the circle was the date January 12th. 

“How’d he get to know us so fast?” Ian said and Mickey shook his head and pushed his fingers over his bottom lids.

“No fucking clue.” Mickey said and laughed. 

“It’s like freaky.” Ian said and Luke giggled. Ian handed the picture back to Mickey and he held it up and turned it reading their names. His eyes lifted to his and he waved a hand at him, Luke got on his knees and Mickey pulled his arm gently and Luke hugged him. Mickey swayed him back and forth and growled. Ian giggled and Luke felt his strong arms and heart beating. He sighed and his eyes filled with happy tears, he held Mickey tight and he felt his hand gently move over his back. 

“Thanks.” Mickey said and he nodded pulling back. He sniffed and giggled, the both laughed and sniffed.

“Alright, enough mush.” Ian said. “Waffles? He asked and Luke and Mickey burst out laughing, Mickey threw a hand up in the air. 

“What?” Ian said. “No waffles?” he said. Luke went over to his side laughing and Mickey giggled hysterically as he put his arm around Ian. 

 

Mickey walked into their bedroom and closed the door behind him, it was 1am and there were people passing out all over the house, he was fucking tired. They had been up early and it had been a long fucking day. A fun fucking day but a long one, they had Christmases before but this one had been a blast. Waking Luke up like he was a kid had been his idea and Ian had run in and almost jumped on Luke’s bed. Every present Luke had opened had been like the first time he had opened the violin strings, his face light up. It didn’t matter if it was a new bow or pajamas, the kid loved all of it. 

He’d almost lost it when he saw the picture with their names in a circle. It was Luke’s way of accepting them as his family and the sweet sentimental gifts were perfect for both of them. Ian was right, it was kinda freaky he knew them that well. Ian would want something he used every day and was with him all the time when he was at work. Mickey had to see something for it to be real and the picture was them in their home with their names on it, it was proof they were ‘real’. 

“Shit.” He said taking off his jeans. The kid was fucking smart, he knew that but every once in a while it still surprised him. He looked up at the picture on his side table, it was right next to the picture of him and Ian on their wedding day, well second wedding. Ian had his arm around his neck and they were smiling at each other. 

He pulled the covers back and pulled them over him rubbing his eyes he picked up the little book on the table and flipped it open. 

‘Blood and guts and gore huh? ’ He thought and started reading. 

 

Ian put away the last of the food and stood up from the fridge, the fridge was packed and he closed the door. It didn’t close all the way and he pushed his weight against it and it closed. 

He looked over the kitchen and living room and it was a God awful mess. Cups and plates were everywhere and half eaten cookies and cake on plated were scattered on every surface including the floor. He rolled his eyes up and shuffled into the living room, Heidi was a sleep on the couch and Luke was curled up on the floor asleep with his new pajamas under his head. He still had his glasses on and they were pushed up to his forehead. 

He looked down and laughed quietly, he was so tired by the end of the day but had fought to keep his eyes open until he had seen him fall asleep under the tree. He had smiled all day and had beamed when Ian had shown his stethoscope to everyone. 

He crouched down to Luke.

“Hey.” He whispered and Luke didn’t move. He reached out a hand and rubbed his arm.

“Luke,” He said. Nothing. Ian thought and twisted his mouth up.

“Alright, I’m carrying you.” He said and reached out and pulled on his arm gently. Luke didn’t stir, his mouth opened and his glasses fell down his nose as he picked him up. He lifted his legs and Luke snored against his chest. 

Ian laughed and tried to shut his mouth. Jesus he wished he had a camera. He carried him with his arm out wide and Ian skirted the wall not to hit his hand, he turned into Luke’s room and stopped.

It was a minefield. 

Clothes and books were everywhere, he adjusted Luke in his arms and Luke snored and his head went back. Ian carefully chose his footing through the mess of a room and got to the bed, he laid him down and Luke didn’t move. Ian smirked at him and lifted his glasses off of his face and folded them, he looked at the nightstand.

‘Where does he put them?’ he thought. There was no space in all the junk, he pushed over a book and half of the junk fell off the side and he grimaced and looked at Luke. He didn’t move, Ian put the glasses down. He reached over Luke and pulled the blankets over him, the memory flashed through his mind of bringing the blankets up over him in the ambulance and covering his hand with his. Ian reached down and covered Luke’s hand with his again, his hands were bigger now and they played the violin and made Christmas cookies. 

He had been with them a little less than a year and he couldn’t imagine life without him now. They didn’t make everything OK for Luke, he made everything OK for himself with them beside him. He still talked to Elizabeth and Ian was happy about that, he may have been here a year but he was going to be dealing with what came before for a long time. Ian lifted his hand and Luke turned on his side and stuck an arm out. Ian shook his head smiling and looked back over the floor. 

“You’re doing something about this room tomorrow.” He said under his breath. 

“Ya 'K.” He heard and laughed under his breath. Luke was talking to him in his sleep.

“Goodnight Luke.” He said quietly.

“Night Ian.” Luke mumbled. “Night Mickey.” He said and Ian smiled. 

Ian turned back and said,

“I love you Luke.” Ian saw his eyes slid open a little.

“I love you too.” Luke said and Ian knew he wasn’t talking in his sleep anymore. He walked quietly out of the room closing the door behind him leaving it open a little. He smiled all the way to their room and opened the door, he saw Mickey asleep with a book in his hand and laughed.

“Huh. What? “Mickey said his eyes opening quickly. Ian laughed harder and Mickey pushed a hand over his face.

“What the fuck.” Mickey said and Ian climbed on the bed and up to the pillow. 

Mickey rubbed at his eyes and looked over at him with a scowl. Ian smiled brightly and pushed his hand around the pillow.

“Jesus man fucking sleeping.” Mickey said gruffly and closed his eyes. Ian watched him and waited.

“What?” Mickey said without moving. 

“Shakespeare.” Ian said brightly and Mickey smiled and grunted. Ian reached over and took it from his hand and turned to his back. He flipped it open and read the first line. 

“Huh.” He said and read more.

“What the hell is that word?” He asked and Mickey ignored him, he kept reading. 

“You can understand this?” He asked. 

“Reading is supposed to be quiet.” Mickey said. Ian looked over and flipped through the pages, he put the book aside and pulled at the covers down Mickey’s chest.

“Whatcha doin?” Mickey asked.

“I have one more present.” He said and slid his tongue over his side and down his belly. 

Ian looked up and Mickey’s eyes were hooded and on his. Mickey watched him pull down his shorts and Ian teased the head of his cock with his lips. 

“I like it so far.” Mickey said. 

“Mmm.” Ian murmured and licked his lips. He lifted his eyebrows and Mickey bit his lip as he closed his mouth over him.


	7. Chapter 7

Mickey waited by the door, he had a bag on his shoulder and he put his hands up for the fifth time.

“Let’s go.” He said and Ian held a hand up . 

“Ian can we go please.. for the love of Christ” He said and Ian walked back down the hallway for the tenth time. 

“You’re killin’ me.” He said and put his head down. 

“Alright, we’re good.” Ian said and walked toward the door carrying his bag. 

“Thank you!” Mickey said. 

“Luke.” Ian called out. “We’re going.” 

“Ya OK bye.” They heard and Mickey raised his eyebrows.

“Get your ass out here.” Mickey called out and Ian laughed under his breath and put his scarf around his neck and picked up his coat. 

He saw Luke coming and saw the smile on his face, he crossed the living room and Ian turned to hug him. His hair was below his ears, he kept it long and shaggy and pushed it out of his face most of the time. His face was fuller and when he smiled like he was now he was catnip for the ladies. 

“I was coming” Luke said and gave him a big smile over Ian’s shoulder. 

“Uh huh.” He said and smirked. Luke was as tall as him, it seemed like every time he looked at him he was taller. 

“Don’t burn the house down.” Ian said. 

“Cuz I ain’t livin’ with the Gallaghers.” Mickey said shaking his head. 

Luke laughed and let go of Ian.

“I won’t.” Luke said. Ian slid on his coat and Mickey gave Luke a long hard look. He was innocently smiling at him and Mickey knew he had plans for the next few days. 

“What’s her name?” Mickey said. 

Luke sighed and said. “Tony.” 

“Tony?” Mickey said as eyes went wide. 

“You comin’ over to the dark side?” Ian asked zipping his coat and Mickey laughed. 

“Nah.” Luke said. “Antonia.” He said it with a wistful tone and Mickey rolled his eyes. Luke was in love again and wondered how long this one would last. He hadn’t brought one home since the whole busting in his room with a gun episode which he never heard the fucking end of from Luke. 

“Ya ok.” Mickey said turning toward the door. “Use a rubber, I don’t care if she says she’s on the pill. Fucking use it.” 

“Yeeesss.” Luke said and held out his hand for the door as Ian pulled it open.

“Be good.” Mickey said and Luke nodded smiling. Luke held his arm out with a smirk and Mickey hugged him.

“Ya know what, fuck that be bad. Have a little fun for fuck’s sake.” Mickey said. 

Luke laughed and Mickey let him go and smiled as he saw Luke’s happy face. 

“Ya.” Ian said. “Have a party, get in trouble.”

“Call Carl if you get arrested.” Mickey said with a shrug and patted his back. He started through the door and Ian was waiting for him looking back at Luke. 

“Ya and Westford’s good for bail money.” Ian said. Mickey laughed and turned back to Luke standing in the door. He nodded and smiled to them crossing his arms over his chest in the cold. 

“And if you get into real trouble call Frick.” Mickey said and Luke shook his head rolling his eyes. 

“I am not going to need a Fed.” Luke said. Mickey and Ian turned toward the car and Ian called out.

“Ya never know.”

“Nope.” Mickey said smiling, Luke had stepped out onto the landing in his stocking feet. 

“Have fun.” Luke said. 

“Oh we will.” Mickey said with a wicked smile and Ian laughed and opened the door, throwing his bag in the back. 

Ian got in the car and the door slammed, Mickey nodded his chin out to Luke and he nodded and waved to him. Mickey smiled and opened the door, he threw his bag in the backseat and slammed the door closed. Ian turned the key looking over at Luke. 

“He’s good man.” Mickey said and Ian looked over at him, he was smiling and nodded.

“I know.” Ian said. “We could come home to a burned up shell of a house.” 

Ian shrugged and seemed OK with it. 

“Nah man. It’s more likely we come home to a fuckin’ grandkid.” He said. 

Ian laughed and nodded.

“HEY.” Mickey called out leaning over to look out Ian’s window. Luke nodded his chin up as Ian rolled the window down. 

“EVERY FUCKING TIME.” Mickey said. “You hear me? We’re too young to be fucking grandparents.” 

Ian nodded and smiled wickedly at Luke. 

“Jesus.” Luke said and put his hand on his face and pulled down his cheeks. Ian laughed and Mickey smirked.

“I don’t think the neighbor down the block heard you.” Luke said waving an arm out. 

“Ya they did.” Mickey said and sat back. 

Ian giggled and waved to Luke, he waved a hand up and shook his head as he stepped back into the house. Mickey laughed and pulled out his smokes as Ian put the car into gear. He lit one and looked back at the door, Luke was waiting for them to drive by. Mickey flipped him off as Ian beeped the horn, Luke waved and Mickey knew he was laughing. Ian turned up the heat and Mickey held out the smoke to him, Ian held out his hand and smiled over to him. 

“Five days.” Ian said and took a long drag.

“Mm hmm.” Mickey said and settled into his seat and bit his lip smiling. Before Luke had come to live with them they would go to Mexico at least once a year, sometimes twice. It had been two years since Luke had come to live with them and he was good to be alone for a few days. Heidi was home and would check in with him, knowing her she’d park her ass on the couch for five days and watch him like a hawk. 

“What?” Ian said handing out the smoke. 

“If Heidi has her way, Luke ain’t getting anything from Tony.” He said and Ian laughed.

“True.” Ian said. Mickey took a drag and watched Chicago go by. In a few hours they’d be in sunny Mexico on the beach and he’d be rubbing Ian down with sunscreen. Just the thought of Ian on the beach naked in the sun made him hard. He smiled and bit his thumbnail looking over at Ian. 

Ian smiled looking over at him, he reached out his hand and Mickey took it and held it on his leg. 

Getting away was something they had needed before Luke had come. They had settled into their life but for two years while they were in protection it had been just them. Life after was fucking weird and when it got too much they’d take off to either Mexico or Texas, it didn’t matter where as long as it was just them for a few days. It felt like forever since they went and they had made sure Luke was good with it and he was cool, there wasn’t much Luke wasn’t cool about. 

He had grown about a foot and ate like a horse, he had contacts now he but he still wore his glasses most of the time. He had gone from gangly and awkward to tall and broad shouldered overnight and he was a chic magnet.

And a guy magnet. 

He had been hit on by a few guys at school and since he lived with two gay dudes he wasn’t freaked and he had become friends with a couple of them. He had brought them home to do band geek shit and for about a day Ian had questioned if Luke was really gay and was just covering. Mickey had reminded him about Heather and Jenny and Janet and Sherry and Martina and the hordes of other girls and Ian had sighed.

“But...” Ian had said.

“He’s straight man.” He had said. 

“Yeahhh.” Ian had said. “I guess.” Mickey had rubbed his back and rolled his eyes while Ian wasn’t looking. 

“Think he’ll have a party.” Ian asked.

“Fuck no.” Mickey said twisting his face up. “Kid’ll practice for three days and watch the Sci Fi channel til his eyes bleed.”

“Ya.” Ian said with a sigh. Mickey squeezed his hand and took a drag off the smoke and handed it to him. 

Luke was a normal teenager but he was a genius, violin playing loved anything geeky teenager. He wasn’t running wild like they did or knocking up chics.. Mickey stopped mid thought. 

‘He fucking better not.’ Mickey thought and narrowed his eyes. He pulled out his phone and scrolled down to Luke’s name.

His fingers moved over the keys and he hit send with a smile. Ian handed him the smoke , Mickey felt his phone vibrate, he looked down and laughed at Luke’s response. 

“What?” Ian asked. 

“I told Luke if he knocked up Antonia or whatever the fuck her name is we’ll send him to military school.” He said with a shrug.

“Oh huh.” Ian said. “That’ll work.”

“He said he hates us both and he’s moving in with Heidi.” Mickey said. 

Ian laughed and smirked. “Why, so he can knock her up? He said and Mickey nodded picking up his phone, he texted Luke. 

“You texted what I said?” Ian laughed and Mickey stuck his tongue in his teeth. 

“Ya.” He said and Ian laughed harder. 

His phone buzzed and Luke had sent a middle finger emoji, he smiled and thought,

‘Ya he’s ours.’ 

He took the smoke from Ian and smiled. They texted Luke and laughed all the way to the airport. 

 

They spent the first day on the beach and Mickey did slather Ian with sunscreen and by the time he was done every inch of his white skin was covered. Ian panted and felt Mickey under him breathing heavily. 

“Sunscreen is on.” Mickey said with a wide smile.

“Fuck ya.” Ian panted out. He kissed Mickey’s neck and since they were both very slippery, he slipped off of him and landed on the towel next to him. He rested his arm on Mickey’s waist and Mickey was smiling with his eyes closed. Ian stroked over his chest , his hot skin was glistening in the sunlight. 

“Man I missed this.” He said.

“Mm me too.” Mickey said. Ian lifted his head and rested it on his hand, he looked out over the sand and the water. This was their little piece of heaven and it had been too long since they were here and it was just them. They had been focused on Luke for the past two years and he had brought so much to their lives but this was theirs. Luke had practically pushed them out the door when they had brought up Mexico. They were telling him about their trips and Luke had asked why they hadn’t gone since he had been there. He had looked back and forth between them and realized it was because of him. 

He very quietly and very firmly had said “You’re going.”

They had made their plans and asked everyone to keep an eye out for Luke. Knowing his family and extended family the poor kid will be overrun with people ‘checking in’ on him and would never want them to leave again. 

Ian smiled in the sun and rubbed his hand over Mickey’s skin.

“He’s fine.” Mickey said.

“Ya.” Ian said, he knew Mickey was telling himself he was fine as much as he was telling him. 

Ian rolled to his back and closed his eyes, he sighed and felt the sun beat down on him. He felt Mickey’s hand move over to his and he smiled threading his fingers through his. He opened his eyes and reached over for another towel and brought it over their waists. It was secluded but you never knew if a tourist was going to come strolling through, it had happened a couple of times and they had learned to fuck and cover. 

Ian settled back on the sand and felt his whole body relax, this was heaven and he was happier than he had ever been. He had Mickey, the sun and the sand and he didn’t need anything else in the world. 

 

He felt lips on his shoulder and Mickey’s hand in his hair.

“Hm.” He mumbled. He felt Mickey shift over him and his lips brushed over his, he smiled and opened his lips for him. 

“You fell asleep.” Mickey said and brought his hand up to his jaw, he brought his hand up to Mickey’s back, he lazily rubbed his back and turned his head. 

“Come on.” Mickey said sweetly and Ian ignored him. He felt Mickey rub his cheek against his and he smiled. 

“Hm.” Mickey murmured and kissed his neck. Ian arched his neck and felt Mickey laugh low in his throat. Ian opened his eyes a little and saw that the sun had gone down, he lifted his hand to Mickey’s head and turned into him. Mickey lifted his head and smiled down at him.

“Morning.” Mickey said with a sweet smile. Ian yawned and smacked his lips.

“Mornin’” He said and Mickey laughed. 

“Come on man, I’m starvin’ Mickey said as he rolled away. 

“Hm.” Ian said and opened his eyes wider. Mickey reached over and grabbed his shorts and stood up. he stepped into them and Ian watched him. He was naked and his skin was already darker, he smiled and lifted his arm behind his head. Mickey reached down for his shirt and his eyes came to his. 

Mickey laughed and lifted his eyebrows. Ian smiled brightly and sat up, he brushed sand off of him and found his shorts. The sun was resting on the water and he knew they’d be back later, they had the hotel to keep their stuff but this is where they stayed while they were here. They’d skinny dip in the dark and fall asleep on the beach and maybe walk back to their hotel covered with sand or wake up here tomorrow morning. 

It was his favorite place in the world Ian thought as he stood up, they grabbed their empty beer bottles and their towels and stuffed them in his back pack. Ian shrugged his t-shirt over his head and saw Mickey in the fading light. He was looking over at the sunset and Ian walked up behind him and brought his hand around his waist. Mickey’s arm came under his and Ian rested his chin on his shoulder, Mickey’s skin was hot from the sun and he breathed him in. He felt Mickey relax into him and let out a long breath, Ian turned his head and rested his lips on his neck and Mickey hummed low in his throat. 

Ian brought his head up and hugged Mickey from behind and Mickey smiled and brought his hand up to his face turning to him. He leaned in and kissed him quickly.

“Come on.” Mickey said and squeezed his hand, he pulled it as he walked and Ian reached over grabbing the back pack. He swung it over his shoulder and they started up the hill.

 

They walked into their hotel room and dropped the bag, they didn’t bother with showers and headed back out into the crowded street to a restaurant on the corner, they walked in and the smells hit Ian immediately. He was hungrier than he thought, the food was amazing here. They came here all the time on their trips and had tried everything on the menu. The hostess waved them over to a small table toward the back and they followed her through the busy restaurant. She handed them menus and Ian looked over his and tried to decide between the tacos and enchiladas.

‘Tough choice’ He thought.

He lowered his menu to ask Mickey, he saw Mickey’s face and immediately went on alert. His whole face was tense and his eyes were dark on his. Mickey casually put down his menu and stood up, he walked toward the back of the restaurant toward the bathroom and opened the door. Ian waited and looked over the menu without seeing it. 

His heart was pounding in his chest and his brain was screaming ‘NO NOT NOW!’

Ian looked back toward the bathroom and scrunched up his face impatiently, he looked at his watch and sat back. He drummed his hand on the table and looked around casually. He didn’t focus on any one person, he blurred his eyes and rubbed his hands together. He looked at his watch again and rolled his eyes, he stood up and walked back toward the bathroom, as soon as he was out of sight from anyone he let out a breath and bolted into the bathroom. 

Mickey was still there, as soon as he saw him he let out a breath and closed his eyes. He should already be gone but Ian didn’t say anything, there would be time enough for that later. There was a large low window that was part of the reason they came here, it was easily accessible and led to an empty alley. Ian pulled it open and Mickey crouched down and went through, Ian lowered his head and out a leg over. He heard someone start to open the door and shoved himself out and dropped down, Mickey was already down. They quietly moved crouching away from the window and started running. 

They ran as fast as they could to the hotel, they sprinted up the stairs and Mickey whipped out the key and opened it with Ian whipping his head around to check the hallway. Mickey shoved open the door and pushed Ian through it. He closed the door behind him and Ian panted and he saw Mickey’s teeth go back as he hissed out,

“Motherfucker saw me.” Mickey said. Ian’s heart dropped, he didn’t need to know who ‘he’ was, someone who needed to think Mickey was dead was in that restaurant and had seen him. Ian’s whole body went cold despite the heat.

Mickey wasn’t dead but he could be in the next two minutes. 

 

Mickey raged and watched Ian’s face fall. The man in the restaurant had done double take and had turned away. Mickey had seen it and his antenna had gone up, he tried to place him and it didn’t take very long. He was a runner for the cartel and had seen Mickey more than once, he had stuck out with his white skin and blue eyes. He had only been there for six months but after he had ‘died’ all of his buddies had gone away or died. If he thought for one second he was him they were both dead. 

‘This is not fucking happening.’ He thought and paced. There was a back door to the hotel and they were going out it in about 30 seconds. Ian grabbed their bag with their passports and they started for the door. Mickey opened it slowly and looked out, nothing. He waved to Ian and they started down the hallway to the back stairs, they moved quickly and quietly down to the metal door. Mickey pushed it open and saw the ally had people around but no one who looked dangerous, he opened the door and they casually walked through the alley to a side street. When they were far enough away Mickey pulled out his phone still walking and pushed at his phone walking faster with Ian right beside him. 

The phone rang and he growled and set his teeth. 

“Sutter.” He heard.

“I’ve been seen.” He said. 

“Where are you?” He said.

“Mexico.” He said.

“I’ll have an exit for you in ten.” He said. 

“Get Luke.” He said. 

“Mick…” Sutter said. 

“You go to my fucking house and you get my fucking kid or so help me God ….” He seethed.

“I’ll get him.” He said and Mickey let out a breath. 

“I’ll get you an exit as soon as I can.” Sutter said and Mickey hit end. 

“When?” Ian asked.

“He’s going now.” Mickey said. Sutter would come through for them, he’d get Luke and make sure he was somewhere safe and they were on their own for the time being. Mickey looked over at Ian and his eyes were hard and narrowed, he never wanted to see that face again. He hardened his heart and walked with him away from their favorite place in the world back into the darkness of his past. 

 

Sutter barked orders into the phone and he tore onto Mickey and Ian’s street. 

“I don’t care if you have to carry them!! GET THEM OUT!!”

“Yes sir.” He heard, he threw the phone down and braked hard in front of the house. He pushed open the door and dropped down, the windows were dark and his heart sank. It had been less than an hour but he had seen it happen in ten minutes. Someone had been seen who was supposed to be dead and their house was targeted immediately. He slammed the truck door and rushed up to the door, he had a key and prayed under his breath and unlocked the door. He stepped in as he pulled out his gun, the house was dark except for the bathroom light. 

He lifted his gun and walked quietly through the living room, he cleared the office and walked toward the hallway. He saw Mickey and Ian’s room was empty and stepped in front of Luke’s door, he knew Luke had very sensitive hearing and he should have heard him coming by now. Sutter took in a long steady breath and opened the door bringing his gun up. 

Sutter’s mouth dropped open, Luke was on his bed totally naked getting a blow job by a hot naked girl. Luke opened his eyes and blinked.

“Uhhhh.” He said. The girl’s head whipped around and she screamed. 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?” Luke shot out and the girl jumped off the bed covering her chest. Luke’s hand went up and fell back on the bed. 

“Oh ah.” Sutter said and lowered the gun to his side. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He said.

The girl started speaking furiously in Spanish and grabbed up something he assumed was clothes. Luke put an arm over his eyes and waved his other hand up over his head. The girl stepped into something that looked like a belt and pulled it up, she whipped a shirt over her head quickly. 

“I’m a cop.” He said and held a hand out to the girl. She pulled away and hissed at him, he heard lots of Spanish swear words and Luke nodded and wrapped an arm over his eyes. 

The girl glared at him and he lifted his hands and stepped back, she pushed past him glaring back at Luke. She stormed out bitching all the way and Sutter looked down at Luke. He was still naked, he hadn’t moved and Sutter heard him muttering to himself. He couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying with all the Spanish bitching but he heard ‘crazy’ and ‘guns’ and ‘never getting laid’. 

The door slammed and Luke sighed, he waited a beat and took his arm away from his eyes, he opened them and looked up at him. 

“James.” He said politely.

“Uhh hi..listen..”

“No.” Luke said. “I don’t want to hear it.” Luke said and sat up, he picked up his glasses and pushed them on, he grabbed up his jeans and shoved his leg into his jeans. 

“Luke.” Sutter said. Luke shook his head and shoved his other leg in. 

“I don’t know why you’re here and I don’t fucking care. What? They called you to make sure I used a condom? Well ya know what? I didn’t get the CHANCE to fucking use one and never will because you all walk around waving fucking guns!” He said standing zipping up his jeans. 

“Luke.” Sutter said firmly. 

“I’m NEVER GETTING LAID because of you people.” Luke said waving his arms out wildly. 

“LUKE!” Sutter said and he saw Luke’s face change, he was finally paying attention to him. 

“What’s wrong? Are they OK?” he asked in a rush.

“Yes, they’re fine.” He said. 

He saw Luke’s face go white. 

“No they’re not.” Luke said and he sucked in a breath. Sutter stepped forward and reached out for his arm. Luke’s eyes were focused on his, they were wide and scared for Ian and Mickey. 

“They will be, I promise.” He said. 

“We have to move now.” Sutter said gently. Luke took a deep breath and nodded, Sutter nodded with him and Luke sat on the edge of the bed and took another deep breath, he leaned over and picked up his shirt off of the floor. Sutter waited for him by the door watching him put it on, he stood up and started for the door. Sutter put a hand up looking over at Luke’s violin, Luke eyebrows furrowed together. 

“Bring it.” He said and Luke looked confused but stepped over and picked it up. Luke didn’t ask why he had to bring it and Sutter knew he was scared to ask. He didn’t know how much Luke knew about Mickey’s past and it wasn’t up to him to tell him. They walked through the house and Luke shoved on his boots and coat while Sutter checked the area through the blinds. He walked over in front of Luke and held an arm up, he turned the lock and the knob and opened it scanning the street. He opened the door and waved Luke through, he held Luke’s arm and closed the door. He scanned the street as they walked and opened the door for Luke, he got in and Sutter slammed the door. He walked around the car quickly and opened his door, he hopped in and started the engine. 

“Buckle up.” He said to Luke as he stepped on the gas hard. He didn’t look over to make sure Luke did, he knew he would do what he asked. He sped through Chicago with his eyes peeled, checking each mirror over and over to make sure they weren’t being followed. Luke didn’t ask questions, he sat quietly with his violin in his lap. He saw Luke’s tension, he pushed his hand through his hair over and over as they drove. 

He pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building and parked in the shadow. He got out and moved to the passenger side letting Luke out. They walked to the metal door, he kept Luke in front of him as he punched in the code. The door buzzed and he waved Luke in, they walked down the hall and Sutter took out the keys to the old apartment and unlocked it, as soon as Luke was in he closed the door and locked all three locks. He let out a long breath and leaned against the door, he closed his eyes and let himself breathe. 

“Are you alright?” Luke asked and he felt Luke’s hand on his arm. He brought his hand up to cover it before opening his eyes. 

“Yeah.” He said. “I’m alright.” He opened his eyes and Luke was looking down at him with concern. The kid was amazing, he was so kind after everything he had been through. He didn’t ask why he had to come with him, he came because he trusted him which was a miracle itself. Luke was safe, he only had two more people to save and if he didn’t this amazing kid would shatter right before his eyes. 

 

Luke stepped back and put his violin on the empty table and looked around the kitchen. He had no idea what was going on but if it had to do with Mickey and Ian he needed to know that they were OK. He unzipped his coat and took it off throwing it over his violin. 

Sutter pulled out his phone and dialed. He could hear Mickey on the phone from where he was standing. 

“You get him?” He shot out

“Yeah.” He said and held the phone out to Luke. He reached for it and brought it to his ear. 

“Mickey?” He said and he heard Mickey let out a long breath. 

“Ya.” He said “Are you OK?”

“Yes.” He said and his eyes filled with tears, he heard the tones in Mickey’s voice. He was pissed and frantic but most of all scared for him. Mickey didn’t get scared. 

“Are you OK?” he shot out.

“Ya, we’re fine.” Mickey said.

“Don’t fucking lie to me?” Luke hissed out. 

Mickey was quiet.

“Hey.” It was Ian’s voice. 

“Ian?” he said and he felt the tears in his eyes. 

“We’re OK for now and we’ll be there soon.” Ian said and Luke took in a long breath, Ian wasn’t lying. 

“OK.”He breathed out. “OK” 

“Sutter is going to watch out for you until we get there, do exactly what he says Luke.” 

“Ya.” Luke said. “OK”

“Hey.” He heard Mickey’s voice again. “I’m sorry man.” Mickey said. 

“Me too.” Luke said. “You’ll be here?” He asked.

“Ya.” Mickey said immediately and Luke breathed easier, they were both coming.

“Put Sutter back on.” Mickey said. “But hey Luke..” He said. 

“Ya?”

“I love ya kid.” Mickey said and Luke’s eyes filled again. 

“I know.” He said. “I love you too.” He said and handed the phone to Sutter with his eyes on the floor. 

“Ya.” He heard. He walked to the table and sat down in a chair. Mickey had never said that before and it made him even more nervous but they said they’d be here and they meant it. 

‘They’ll be here.’ He thought to himself and held onto that as his heart pounded and his stomach dropped. His eyes filled and he lifted his glasses and pushed his fingers over his eyes. 

“See you soon.” Sutter said. 

Luke looked up as he pulled the phone away from his ear. He looked down at him and said,

“They’re on their way.” Luke’s eyes filled and he nodded, Sutter sat in the chair next to him and brought his hand up to his back. He put his arms across the table and put his head down, Sutter’s arm went around his shoulder and he took long deep breaths with his head on his arms. 

He kept repeating over and over in his head and his heart, 

“They’ll be here.’ 

 

Luke paced and Sutter sat on the couch, he let him be and watched him walked back and forth across the living room. The apartment was the same as when Mickey and Ian had been here, minus the coffee table they had busted and one dresser. He had tried to talk to Luke but Luke was having none of it, he paced and was in his own little world. His face would twist up and he would stop and take in a breath and start walking again. Sutter sat back and put his arm on the back of the couch, he took in a long breath and tried to calm himself down. 

He had been a wreck picking up Luke and that was a bad sign, he knew it was because he was attached to Luke. He was attached to Mickey and Ian as well, they were like family and family was messy and hard sometimes. He knew Mickey was about to threaten him on the phone but had stopped himself, he knew exactly why and he didn’t hold it against him at all. If he was in that position, he’d say the same thing. 

Get my son. 

He was theirs in every way but legally and who cared about that, family was family. Luke’s face and voice had changed when he had told Mickey not to lie to him. He had been furious and Sutter had never seen that side of him. Luke was mellow and a pretty happy kid but he was fighting with himself right now, fighting down the panic at the thought of losing them. Sutter knew that fight, he had been there himself when he had married Ginny and had a child, he had been on his own for so long and now he had people to love. 

Sutter looked at his watch and glanced over at Luke, he was stopped again and was pushing his finger over his lip with his head down. He looked older but he saw the kid under the bigger body, he was fifteen now and had been with Mickey and Ian for two years. 

“They got married here.” He said with a smile and Luke’s light blue eyes came up to his. 

“Hm.” He said and he tilted his head. 

“Ian and Mickey.” He said nodding. “Right there.” He said and pointed to the front of the couch.

He had his attention now.

“Here?” Luke said. “They got married at Fiona’s.” 

“That was the second time.” He said and smiled remembering. “Ian had a black eye and Mickey was bullshit Ian had talked him into them getting married.” 

Luke smiled and crossed his arms. He walked over pushing his hand through his shaggy hair and sat next to him. 

“Why’d Ian have a black eye?” He asked and brought his leg up onto the couch turning to him. 

Sutter looked up and tilted his head back and forth, he wasn’t sure how much he should tell him but Luke was talking now and listening. 

“Come on.” Luke said and uncrossed his arms. 

“Alright.” He said and Luke smiled. “I was in the kitchen and I hear glass breaking, I go to bust in…”

“Ya…mmhmm?” Luke said with a smug look. 

Sutter ignored the look. 

“Mickey hit him in the eye while trying to avoid glass falling, so he comes out with a shiner and a big smile on his face. “ Sutter said. 

“Oh the dresser without the mirror?” Luke said and Sutter nodded. 

“I’ve always wondered about that.” Luke said. “So they were…” Luke trailed off. 

“I have no idea.” Sutter said. That was his story and he was sticking to it. 

Luke laughed lightly and turned his head. 

“But Mickey was busted up too from the fight.” He said smiling. 

“What fight? “Luke said. 

He rubbed a hand over his face and grimaced, maybe he should just keep his mouth shut. 

“They got into a fight.” He said carefully.

“Oh, HA.” Luke shot out. 

“They should be here soon.” He said looking at his watch again. 

“Ya.” Luke said and looked across the room. He crossed his arms and put his head back on the couch. 

Ian and Mickey had mellowed and he knew Luke didn’t know just how violent they could be. It was a kick in the head to think that this kid who had been beaten on a regular basis had ended up with two tough street thugs who’s kick your face in as soon as look at you. 

Sutter snorted out a laugh and shook his head.

‘Life is funny.’ He thought. 

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Luke said looking down at his hands. 

Sutter looked at him and sighed, he was scared and worried.

“They should tell you.” He said quietly.

“Well they obviously haven’t.” Luke said. 

“They had their reasons.” Sutter said and Luke’s head whipped around to look at him.

“OK that was a shitty explanation but it’s the truth.” He said and Luke stared at him steadily with pissed eyes. He looked back down at his hands and let out a long breath. 

“You hungry? I think we have..” He heard a bang on the door and he stood up. Luke came up next to him and he put his hand up. Luke stopped and crossed his arms, he went to the door and looked through the peep hole. 

He turned back to Luke and smiled. 

 

Luke stood with his arms crossed and his heart in his throat, he saw James’ smile and he felt all the air in his lungs push out of him. James unlocked the doors and he felt himself walking forward, he held his breath and saw Ian’s worried face looking through the door, he saw Mickey pushing someone out of the way and he felt his body sway. 

Mickey was in front of him and saw his pissed face and he smiled at him. Mickey grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in hard, his arms went around him and he held on and he felt Mickey’s strong arms around him nearly crushing him. He looked up and saw Ian’s eyes were tearing up and he wrapped his hand around his head and bent over to kiss it. 

He took a deep breath and held his arm out around Ian and he wrapped his big arms around both of them. 

“OK. I’m OK.” He said and felt Ian’s hand move over his head. He felt Mickey take in a sharp breath and he held onto both of them. Ian lifted his head and looked down at him, his eyes moving over his face. Ian looked exhausted, he had dark circles under his eyes and he was almost white he was so pale. 

“You look like shit.” He said and Ian smiled grimly. Mickey lifted his head and he looked worse than Ian, his face was drawn and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. 

“Are you OK?” He asked and looked back and forth between them. Mickey took a step back and Luke let his arms fall away from him. They stood side by side and Luke felt his stomach drop as he saw their faces, they didn’t look like them. They weren’t smiling and joking, they weren’t holding hands or looking at each other talking between themselves with their eyes. 

“Come on man, we need to talk.” Ian said and brought his hand up around his shoulder. Mickey stood in the kitchen as they walked into the living room, Luke looked back at Mickey as Ian led him away. 

His face was cold and hard and his fists were clenched at his sides. He lifted his hand to his head and pushed at it and swung around following them. 

 

Mickey was raging inside, the rage was almost overwhelming. They were back here, he had lost his shit when they had pulled up.

“No fucking way.” He had seethed out. 

“Fuck.” Ian had shot out next to him.

“It was the closest safe house.” The Fed had said as Mickey had come around the truck. Ian had stepped in his path and pushed him back as he had taken a step toward him. 

His brain buzzed with anger and he hadn’t taken a breath until he had seen Luke in the kitchen. He followed Ian and Luke into the living room and he shook his head when his eyes hit the couch and the chair, it was all the same. 

‘Motherfucker.” He said. Luke looked back at him and he clenched his fists and turned away bringing his jaw out. 

He had brought Luke into this shit and his kid was here in his worst nightmare. 

He looked over at Sutter in the kitchen and he was closing the door behind the Fed who had brought them, he saw him lock each lock and with every lock that clicked his heart broke a little more. 

Locked in.

Who the fuck knows when they’d ever get out. He paced to the wall and heard Ian start talking behind him. 

“I don’t know where to start.” Ian said and Mickey let out a breath and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He turned around and dropped his hand, Luke was sitting in the corner of the couch and Ian was rubbing a hand over his face slowly. Ian looked pale and tired and his heart broke at him having to tell Luke why they were here. 

“I went to jail.” Mickey said and Luke looked over at him. 

“I know.” Luke said. Mickey nodded and took a few steps and saw Ian look up at him. 

“I broke out and went to the Feds, I cut a deal to stay out.” He said and stopped, he hated admitting he was a snitch. Luke’s face didn’t change, he looked up at him with steady blue eyes. 

“I went into witness protection.” He said and Luke’s eyes widened. 

“Holy shit.” 

“I went with him.” Ian said and Luke looked at Ian. 

“Fuck.” Luke shot out. 

“That’s how we know Sutter, he was our handler. We were under for two years and then we went home.” He said. 

Luke nodded slowly. “OK.” He said. 

“We were seen in Mexico.” Ian said. 

“I” Mickey said. “I was seen.” He growled out and paced to the wall. 

“They think he’s dead.” Ian said.

“Not anymore.” He said and leaned against the wall bringing his hand up. He put his head back and crossed his arms. Luke and Ian were quiet and he tried to breathe through the pain in his heart, he had put his family in this kind of danger again. 

“What do we do now?” Luke asked and Mickey opened his eyes, Luke was looking over at him. He didn’t look scared, he looked calm and focused and Mickey felt the pride flow through him, the kid had a steel spine and rolled with them like he had been born to them. 

“We’re going to talk to Sutter and figure it out.” Ian said quietly.

“No we’re not.” Mickey said in a low voice and Ian looked over at him, his eyes were tired and dark but he saw them narrow.

“Ya we are.” He said and stood up, he gave him a long hard look and walked to the entryway of the kitchen.

“Sutter.” Ian said and he heard the chair scrap against the linoleum. He shook his head slowly and looked down at the floor. 

“What’s up?” Sutter asked and came into the living room. He walked to the chair in the corner and Mickey remembered that’s where he had been sitting when they had told the story of how they met. 

“With crazy strength and crazy love you can do anything.” The words Westford had spoken came back to him and his breath caught in his chest. They had, they had done the impossible and taken their shit lives and made a home for themselves and they were fucking happy. He felt a streak of pain shoot through him.

He did this and he was going to undo it. He didn’t give a fuck what it took, Ian and Luke were all that mattered now.

“You could stay here temporarily until I find you something.” Sutter said. 

“No.” Mickey said shaking his head, Ian looked up at Sutter and asked,“How long?”

“No.” He said again and pushed his arms out across his chest starting forward.

Sutter stood up and Mickey stopped, he turned his head and stepped forward. 

“It’s just until we find this guy.” Sutter said and Mickey was shaking his head.

“They’re not going under for one fucking minute.” He said in a low voice. 

Sutter put his hands on his hips and his eyes were dark. 

“Hey.” He heard and saw Ian standing up with his eyes on his, they were pissed and he stepped forward and Mickey braced on his legs.

“What the fuck?” Ian said in a low hard tone. 

Mickey crossed his arms and tried to take in a breath, he set his face. He saw Ian’s eyes widen and his head go back.

“No fucking way.” Ian said.

Ian came right up to his face and he saw his dark eyes and felt the anger roll off of him. 

“You’re not going under” He said firmly and Ian sneered at him.

“But you are?” Ian said and Mickey didn’t answer him. He watched Ian’s change as he started to understand what Mickey was saying. He was going to take care of this without the Feds. 

“Oh.” Ian said sarcastically. “I see! OK sure.” 

“It’ll be taken care off.” Mickey said in a hard voice. 

“This shit again.” Ian shot out like bullets and Mickey turned his head. He felt the rage build and he hissed in a breath. 

“Back the fuck up.” He said in a low quiet voice. 

“Fuck you.” Ian said and Mickey nodded and stepped forward. 

Ian shoved him and Mickey pushed his arms away and stepped back baring his teeth. 

Mickey braced on his legs and heard Sutter. “Luke lets go.” Sutter said. 

They both heard Luke’s name and stopped. 

“No.” Luke said. 

He watched Ian’s eyes flash with fury.

“I have to do this alone.” He said and watched Ian’s face change as he said the word alone. He felt Ian’s pain flash through his heart.

He stepped forward reaching his hand out to Ian. “Hey…” He started. 

“No.” Ian shot out. “You want to fucking go, go. I’m not gonna stop you.” Ian stepped back and had gone cold and hard in a heatbeat. 

Mickey felt his heart tear in his chest, it slowed down and almost stopped as he tried to breath. He nodded stepping back pushing his hand over his lip and looked at Ian’s face, it was set in a hard emotionless stone. 

His eyes blurred as he turned around, he walked quickly toward the bedroom, he didn’t look back as he slammed the door behind him. 

 

Luke sat up in the dark and looked over at the other twin bed in the room. Ian was in the next bed and had it had taken him a long time to get to sleep, he had pretended to be asleep and had heard Ian hissing and punching the mattress. He had been totally shocked by their argument earlier, he had seen them argue but that was different. They looked like they were going to kill each other and their voices rang with anger and violence but he had heard the pain and hurt underneath. 

He put his feet on the floor soundlessly and picked up his glasses, he had heard a door open and knew Sutter was sleeping on the couch. The only door in the little apartment was the door to the room Mickey was sleeping in. He stood up and carefully walked to the door and slipped out without making a sound. He saw Sutter on the couch still dressed with a blanket over him and looked up, he saw Mickey walking toward him. 

Mickey’s stopped and walked to him, he brought his arm around his shoulder. He walked with him to the bedroom and Luke opened the door and Mickey stepped in behind him and closed the door quietly. 

Luke walked over to the bed and sat down, Mickey walked past him to the dresser and picked up a cigarette. He lit one quickly and hissed in a drag.

“I was comin’ to wake you up.” Mickey said and Luke saw him push a hand over his eyebrows. 

“Why?” Luke said and Mickey’s eyes came up to his. 

“I need you to do something for me.” Mickey said and Luke narrowed his eyes. Mickey smiled and brought his hand up to his mouth, his eyes weren’t happy but his lips smiled. 

“You’re leaving.” Luke said. It wasn’t a question. He felt the slice of sickness roll through him and he felt anger rise up in him. 

Mickey nodded slowly and Luke hissed.

“What the fuck?” He said and pushed a hand through his hair. He stood up and paced away from him. 

“Explain to me how this is a good fucking idea?” he said and turned back around to Mickey and crossed his arms over his chest.

Mickey’s eyes went wide and he stared at him. 

“What?” he asked. 

“Nothin” Mickey said and flicked the cigarette in the ashtray, he shifted his weight and looked back at him. 

“Mickey come on!” He said and Mickey closed his eyes and shook his head. 

“Jesus you sound like Ian.” Mickey said quietly and Luke heard the hurt in his voice saying Ian’s name. He pushed off the dresser reaching into his back pocket and brought out a white folded piece of paper.

“It’s all in there.” He said. Luke looked down and took it looking back at Mickey. Mickey held up his hand and pushed his finger over his ring closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes lifting the ring off of his finger and he held it out to Luke. 

“Take care of this for me.” He said, Luke held up his hand and Mickey lowered it into his palm wrapping his hand over it, Luke closed his hand around his and looked up at Mickey, he was looking down at their hands.

“I’ll be back for it.” He said and lifted his eyes. Luke held onto the ring and Mickey brought his hand up to the back of his head and pulled him in. Luke wrapped his free arm around him and clenched his hand with his ring in it into a fist. 

“Be good.” He said and patted his head pulling away. He flashed him a smile opening the door quietly and looked out, he looked back and Luke nodded smiling and Mickey stepped out and closed the door behind him. Luke stood in the empty room and Mickey was so quiet he could only hear the first few footsteps and the door whisper open and close. He stared at the door and took air in and out, he felt like his heart was being torn apart. He knew why he had to go because he knew Mickey, he felt responsible and needed to take care of it. 

He brought his hand up and unclenched his fist, Mickey’s ring was in the palm of his hand, looking at it calmed him down immediately. He sat down on the bed and took a deep breath and unfolded the letter still holding the ring. 

Luke,

This is pretty fucked up, we should have told you a long time ago but we thought it was all done and over with. I’m not leaving because I want to, the last thing I want to do is leave but I need to take care of this. I don’t know how long it’s going to take but I will be back and that’s a fucking promise. 

Ian is going to be pissed once he knows I’m gone but he’ll understand once he’s over being pissed. He’ll be OK, just keep an eye on him for me. He’s strong like you but he gets messed up sometimes. I won’t worry about either of you if you have each other’s backs while I’m gone and I know you will. 

The best days of my life were marrying Ian and the day you came along, remember that. 

Mickey 

Luke’s eyes blurred with tears and he read the letter again. He folded it and held it in his hand with Mickey’s ring. Ian was going to lose his shit when he realized Mickey was gone but Mickey was right, he’d be there for him like they always were for each other. Luke walked around the bed and lifted the covers back, he got onto the bed with the light still on and held Mickey’s ring in his hand. 

‘He’ll be back.’ He thought and didn’t have one doubt in his mind it was true. 

 

Luke drove up to the house and turned into the driveway, the wheel wells squeaked and he grimaced. Mickey was going to be pissed when he came home if he didn’t fix that. Luke turned the key and the engine rumbled off. The noise had started a week ago and since he was driving it he needed to fix it. He pushed open the door pulling his violin out behind him and glanced over at the truck on the street, he rolled his eyes and slammed the door. 

‘A Cadillac SUV in the South Side wasn’t obvious, nah’ He thought as he walked up to the house. 

Might as well put a neon sign over the house he thought that would be less obvious. He lifted the keys and found the right ones on his key ring and unlocked the locks quickly. He stepped in and heard the low menacing beep of the security system, he opened it and quickly pushed in the code. The beeping stopped and he slipped off one arm of his coat and switched his violin to his other hand and hung it up on his peg. He hit the code to reengage the alarm and saw the light flash red. 

James had insisted they have it installed as soon as they came home. They had spent a hellish three days in the safe house and the three of them had argued the whole time. James wouldn’t let them leave and Ian was frantic to get out. James had not been able to locate Mickey and Ian had changed in front of Luke’s eyes. He knew Ian was strong but he had seen a whole different side of him, it had all come to a head on the last day when Ian had said,

“We’re going home NOW.” Luke had stood up and headed for the kitchen, he had reached for his coat on the chair and James had reached out his hand.

“Don’t touch him.” Ian had said behind him and James had turned toward Ian. Luke looked over his shoulder and Ian was walking toward him glaring at James. His eyes had come to his and Luke saw a deadly determination in them. 

James had pushed up out of the chair and Ian’s face had twisted up. 

“Don’t” Ian said looking at him but he was talking to James. 

“I can’t let you leave.” James said and blocked the path to the door. 

Ian went freakishly calm and had stepped up to James, he had seen James’ eyes go blank but he had tensed. 

“Get out of my way.” Ian had said and Luke had heard the venom in his voice.

“Ian.” James had said stepping back. Ian had taken a step forward and turned his head. 

“Ohfuckingfuck.” Luke said but they ignored him. He picked up his coat and held it, his eyes moving back and forth between them. 

“Move.” Ian said in a calm tone but the hair on the back of Luke’s neck at stood up. James didn’t move, he only stared back at Ian. He nodded his head and glanced over at him, he took in a long breath and stepped out of the way. Luke reached over and picked up his violin and Ian looked back at him, his eyes were as hard as steel and Luke looked over at James as he walked past. His eyes were on his and Luke smiled.

“We’ll be OK.” He said and glanced at Ian at the door, he was unlocking the last lock and pulled the door open. He walked through it without waiting for him and Luke looked back at James.

“I’m scared of him.” Luke said in a teasing tone.

“Oh ya.” James said. Luke saw the worry in his eyes and brought a hand up to his arm.

“You think anyone’s gonna get past HIM?” he said and titled his head with a smirk. James smiled and his chest rumbled out a laugh, he pushed a hand over his face and shook his head. 

“Luke, lets GO.” He heard. 

“Oh shit.” He said as he walked quickly toward the door. He heard James laugh behind him and he flashed him a big smile at him and closed the door behind him. 

James had been at the house within an hour and Ian had almost flipped out. James had calmly explained the new plan, they would stay at home but have Feds on them 24/7 and Ian had agreed. They had the security installed that day and James had a direct line to it, if and when it ever went off James would know immediately. 

It had been three weeks since Mickey had left but it felt like months. Ian had lost it when he had told him Mickey was gone, he knew he would but what he didn’t expect were the tears. Ian hadn’t been pissed, his eyes had filled with tears and his head had gone down. He had shaken it hard and stepped back. Luke had watched him walk away quickly into the bedroom off of the living room and slam the door, he hadn’t followed him. He had heard him swearing and thuds as he hit the walls or the furniture, he had stayed in there a long time. 

Luke walked into his bedroom and lifted his violin up to the dresser, he had tried to keep his room clean for the past few weeks. He knew it was a little thing but he didn’t want to add to Ian’s stress. He stepped over to the bed and pulled up the blankets and pushed them under the pillow. 

‘Good enough.” He thought and pulled off his sweater as he headed for the shower. He had woken up late that morning and had rushed out the door with a piece of toast in his mouth, Ian was working days and he had left before he had woken up. He stripped and turned on the shower, he picked up his towel from that morning and pushed it into the towel rack and looked around, he had made a mess that morning and he started cleaning the bathroom. 

“Better.” He said and shoved the curtain back, he took his glasses off and carefully put them on the counter beside the sink. 

He stepped under the water and put his head back. Nothing was the same without Mickey, especially Ian. He knew they loved each other but man Ian was a mess. He tried to hide it for him but in was in his voice every time he spoke, it rang through every word he said. 

He had waited until they were home before showing him the letter and the ring. Ian had taken the letter and read it, he didn’t move for a long minute and Luke had thought about not giving him the ring just yet. Ian had looked at him and he saw his eyes had lightened a little, he smiled and reached in this pocket for the ring. 

Ian had seen it and his eyes had filled with tears.

“Shit.” Luke had said. Ian eyes had come to his. 

“No, it’s ok.” Ian said. Luke let out a breath and handed it to Ian. Ian had smiled and as soon as he had taken it Ian had smiled and breathed easier. 

“He said he’d be back for it.” Luke said and Ian eyes had changed, he had looked down at the ring and closed his hand over it. Luke saw the ring on a chain around Ian’s neck since then and Ian would reach up for it and rub his fingers over the metal. 

Luke washed his hair and let a song in his head play. He was into R and B at the moment, they were all about loving and losing love. He wasn't focused on girls for once, he was only focused on home and music. 

“Cuz I need somebody who will stand by me.” He sang out and let the water rinse his hair. 

“This we know for sure.” He sang and pushed at his hair. He turned around and stepped out, he reached in and turned off the tap. 

“Be right there for meeheee.” He sang and picked up his towel.

“Sunnnny days..everybody loves them. .” He sang into the towel. 

He pushed his glasses on his face and wiped the towel over the mirror. He hummed and pushed his hair back with both hands. It was getting long but he liked it, it was artsy. Mickey said it made him look like a girl and was always bitching at him to get it cut. He turned his head and looked over his face, not bad. He still looked more like a kid than he liked, even though his face had filled out a lot, it wasn’t a man’s face yet. He had the same frames Ian had picked out the first day he was here, he had gone back for checkups and every time he had kept the same frames and just replaced the lenses, the frames still suited him. They were simple silver wire frames that made him look older in a way. He knew they made look like a total geek but he was a total geek. 

His eyes weren’t exactly blue but they weren’t exactly gray, he had figured out they were the color of denim. His hair was light brown because it was winter but it would streak with blond in the summertime and Mickey would say he looked like a girl, he smiled and sighed. 

Man he missed Mickey. 

He even missed him bitching at him about the ‘stupid shows’ he liked on Sci Fi but Mickey would sit with him and watch all the stupid shows. He sighed again and started singing where he left off. 

“Tell me baby, caaan you stand the rain…”

He dried himself and he heard a beep from the security system, he tilted his head and heard it go off. 

Ian must be home early. 

He pushed his hair back and wrapped a towel around his waist as he walked through the door he glanced back. He didn’t see Ian, he was already in the kitchen he realized as he heard the refrigerator door open. 

“And I LOVVEEE you girl” He sang in a high falsetto as he pulled his dresser drawer open, he pulled out jeans and a shorts. He opened the top drawer for a t-shirt and socks and started dressing. He had his jeans and shirt on and lifted a foot across his knee with a sock in his hand and heard footsteps, he listened with one ear and heard a short gait, a limp. 

He focused on them and those were not Ian’s footsteps. 

He dropped the sock and stood up with his eyes on the door. He reached under his bed and found the gun he had stashed there the day they came home. He lifted it out and stepped toward the door, he stood against it and looked out into the hallway. He stepped out silently and walked with his back to the wall, he didn’t hear anything and scanned the living room. 

Nothing. 

He took a quick breath and stepped into the kitchen opening and brought the gun up in both hands. He braced on his legs and growled under his breath.

“Hey man!” He heard and he blinked. Mickey was leaning against the counter and stood up straight smiling with a beer in his hand. 

“MICKEY!? He said and Mickey laughed. He rushed at him and Mickey went back with the force of his hug. 

Mickey laughed against him and Luke hugged him hard. Mickey squeezed him tightly and Luke felt the stress and worry disappear in a heartbeat. 

“Fuck.” Mickey said and Luke laughed easing up on his hug. Mickey pushed him back and Luke looked at him beaming. 

“You fucking grew again.” Mickey said and held his arm. 

“Nah.” He said around his beaming smile. 

“Ya you did.” He said and Luke brought his arm back around his neck and pulled him in. 

“Man I missed you.” He said. 

Mickey patted his arm and Luke stepped back. 

“Since when do you have a gun?” Mickey said lifting his beer. Luke brought his hand up and looked down at it. 

“Eh things have been weird.” Luke said. 

“Mm.” Mickey said and nodded. Luke saw the shadows in his eyes and smiled wider. 

“How’d you get in?” He asked and waved a hand at the door. Mickey smiled and shook his head. 

“Was that a cat being tortured or you singing?” Mickey asked with smirk. 

Luke laughed. “Ya well, can’t be good at everything.” He said.

“Nope.” Mickey said and lifted his head, he bit his lip and his eyes moved over his face.

“What happened to you?” Luke asked looking down at his feet, he hadn’t recognized his footsteps because he was limping. 

“Tripped.” Mickey said waving his hand pushing away the question. 

Luke looked down at his feet, he was keeping his weight on one foot. 

“You alright?” Mickey asked. He lifted his eyes to his. 

“Yeah!” He said. Mickey lowered his eyes nodding and lowered the beer, Luke put the gun on the counter and Mickey looked down at it shaking his head. 

“Are you hungry?” He asked walking to the refrigerator. “I made spaghetti last night and it came out awesome.”

“You made it?” Mickey said as he opened the door.

“Ya.” He said and reached in to grab the bowl. He turned around and Luke saw the question and worry in his eyes. 

“He’s OK.” Luke said immediately. “He’s not great but he’s OK.” 

Mickey turned his eyes down to his beer as he lifted it, he shoved a hand in his pocket and Luke put the bowl on the counter. He opened the drawer and took out two forks smiling, he lifted his hand to the cabinet and heard Ian’s car pull up, he stopped and lowered his arm looking back at Mickey. Mickey lifted his eyes to his and stepped away from the counter and into the middle of the kitchen. Luke heard two cars doors slam, Ian wasn’t alone. He watched Mickey and he took a long drink of his beer and watched the door. 

He heard keys and the security system beeped, the door started to open and he heard Mickey take in a big breath. Ian was laughing as he came in the door and his head was turned away from them, Ian stepped up to the security system and punched in the code quickly. He heard a laugh from beyond the door. 

“Holllly shit.” He said under his breath. 

That was Trevor.

“Heeyy…” Ian said turning around, his voice trailed off and he froze when he eyes fell on Mickey. Trevor was still laughing and came up beside Ian, he saw Mickey and his smile fell from his face, he turned around immediately and headed for the door. 

“Hey Luke.” Trevor called out.

“Hey man” He said. Ian and Mickey were frozen in place and Luke saw Ian’s eyes change from one emotion to another. 

“Hey Luke.. you wanna…” Trevor said and Luke looked toward him, he was waving his arm out the door as he stepped out. He was asking if he wanted to run for cover. 

“Nah I’m good.” He said and Trevor closed the door quickly. 

There was total silence as they stared at each other. 

Luke picked up the bowl and walked over to the table. 

Ian let his bag slip down his arm and he shoved it toward the wall turning away from Mickey. 

He sat in his seat and shoved the fork in the spaghetti and thought if one of them killed the other he’d be a good witness for the defense if he sat right here. He wasn’t watching them like it was an MMA fight. 

Nah. 

Ian took off his coat carefully and hung it up. Luke spun the spaghetti onto his fork and looked at Mickey, he stood perfectly still with a beer in his hand. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ian look at him and smile, Luke waved a hand up and smiled back at him. Ian started to walk toward the kitchen looking directly ahead of him. He walked right past Mickey and yanked open the refrigerator door and lifted out a beer, he twisted off the cap and it flew across the kitchen. 

Luke brought the spaghetti up to his mouth and saw Mickey turn around with a cold smile on his face, he shifted his weight and tilted his head glaring at Ian. 

“You gonna fuckin’ say something?’” Mickey said and Ian‘s hand froze mid drink. His eyes snapped to Mickey and he brought the beer down. Luke ate a huge bite of spaghetti and his eyes widened as Ian stepped forward with a smile. Ian’s eyes were deadly and Mickey narrowed his eyes.

“Oh you want me to say something?” Ian said. Mickey licked his lip and his teeth grazed over his top lip. 

“Ya.” Mickey said. “Hey, hi, How ya doin’? Glad you’re not fucking dead?” Mickey said in a cold hard voice. 

“I’m glad you’re not dead.” Ian said in a light thin tone and lifted the beer to his lips. Mickey’s face changed and twisted up. 

“Oh Ya? HMPH.” Mickey said snarling. “Maybe you wish I was huh, Trevor seemed pretty fucking cozy walking into my fucking house.” 

Luke’s jaw dropped open.

Ian’s swung his arm up with a growl and threw the beer bottle at him, Mickey stepped out of the way and the beer bottle smashed against the wall. They stood frozen for a heartbeat and in a flash Ian was rushing Mickey. 

They slammed against the wall and Luke saw and heard the drywall crumple behind Mickey. Mickey pushed Ian back and Luke saw Ian’s arm swing back, Mickey moved fast and Ian’s fist hit the wall. Ian growled and he shoved at Mickey and they went down to the floor. Luke looked over the table, they grunted and Mickey pushed him off, Ian swung and punched Mickey hard. 

Mickey growled and hissed out. “The fuck was he doing here.” Ian sat up and let out a long grunt and punched him.

“Fuck you.” Ian said and Mickey grabbed his arms and rolled over him, Ian shoved him off.

“Fuck me or fuck him.” Mickey growled out. 

“Motherfuckincocksuckin...” He said and shot up to his feet. 

“I’ll fucking kill him.” He said with venom and Ian bared his teeth as Mickey swung, Ian’s head snapped back with the punch and Mickey pulled him around by the neck to the table. Luke lifted his bowl as the table was shoved over by their weight, Mickey held him with one hand and punched Ian hard. 

‘Ouch.’ Luke thought and twisted his face up. 

“You.. fucking.. left.” Ian panted out and grabbed Mickey by the shirt, he swung him around and Mickey hit the wall again. Ian shook him by the shirt he had fisted in both hands, Mickey pushed at his arms and turned his head. 

“What the fuck did you just say?” Mickey said and Luke grimaced shaking his head, his tone was deadly.

“YOU LEFT ME. “Ian said and Mickey pushed him off. Ian stepped back and they were still glaring at each other breathing heavily. 

Mickey growled and stepped up to Ian, he hit him three times and Ian went back against the table. Ian pushed him away. 

Ian hissed and Mickey went in for a body blow. Ian held onto him and pushed forward with his weight, they fell into the hallway. They wrestled and grunted.

“Fuck you.” He heard from Mickey “Motherfucker” Ian growled. 

He lifted a meatball and ate it while the wrested around the floor. He saw Ian kick out and Mickey roll over him, he swung and Ian blocked the swing. He pulled on his arm and Mickey went down next to him. 

“I fucking left!?" Mickey hissed

"YA.” Ian grunted.

Mickey pushed himself back and Ian looked up at Mickey with a deadly look still in his eyes. Ian panted and glared at Mickey as he sat up, he pushed himself back against the wall and brought his legs up in front of him. He was bleeding and panting, he put his head back and his eyes rolled closed. He could only see Mickey’s legs sticking from his angle and he picked up the last bite of spaghetti and stood up shoving it in his mouth. He walked to the sink and rinsed out the bowl and put it on the counter.

He grabbed the keys from the counter and walked into the living room glancing back at them. They sat against both walls of the hallway with their heads down and they were breathing heavily their faces covered with blood. He had no idea if they were done but he figured they could use some alone time to work out whatever they hadn’t beaten out of each other. He picked up his coat and saw Mickey stand up. 

Ian glared at Mickey “Where the fuck are you going?” He said and watched him with narrowed eyes. 

Mickey ignored him and stepped through the drywall into their room. Ian turned his head as he moved and stood up fast. Luke put his coat on and shook his head, maybe they weren’t done he thought as he flipped open the security system.

“I’m talking to you.” He heard Ian say. “Fuck off.” Mickey said in a low hard voice. 

Luke punched in the numbers on the alarm system and unlocked the door, he heard the sound of drywall crunching as pulling the door closed. He pulled up the hood of his coat as he walked to the truck and sighed, it was good to have Mickey home. Things could get back to normal, he smiled and hopped in Mickey’s truck. He twisted the key and remembered he had to fix the truck this weekend but Mickey was home now and they could do it together. He turned up the music and pulled the truck into gear, he backed out and looked at the house as he drove by smiling. 

“They’re gonna wreck the house.’ He thought driving happily. ‘But there’s some left over drywall in the shed.’ 

Everything was going to be OK now, they’d fight it out and be good again. Trevor being there had been really unfortunate timing, Ian had always spent time at the Center but Trevor didn’t come around much. 

“HA!” He said to himself. Trevor didn’t come around because of Mickey, him and his murdery eyes. Luke turned up the radio and sat back, there was one thing he still didn’t understand. 

How did Mickey get in the house? He knew Mickey could get past the locks but the security system? He had heard the system beep so he knew Mickey had turned it off. Maybe Sutter gave him the code? Luke shook his head, Sutter had had no contact with Mickey that he knew for sure. 

“Hmmmm.” He said to himself. He thought back to when they had first had it installed and Sutter had told Ian to put in the code, Ian hadn’t hesitated he had just pressed the numbers and handed it back. 

It wasn’t in order, it was just a jumble of numbers. Maybe Mickey was physic, he did have a way of knowing what he was thinking most of the time, he scoffed and shook his head. Mickey may have acquired new skills while he was away? 

He stopped at a light and pulled out his phone, he looked down and scrolled to the J’s. He pushed James and put it up to his ear.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah!” He said and hit the gas as the light turned green. “Mickey’s home.” He said with a smile.

Sutter let out a long breath. 

“Ya?” he asked. 

“They’re beating the shit out of each other as we speak. “ He said with a smile. 

Sutter laughed and said. “You take off?

“Ohh ya.” He said. 

“Where are you headed?” Sutter asked. 

“I don’t know, I was going to swing by the Gallaghers.” He said.

“Why don’t you come here. Ginny’s making steaks.” 

“Oooh?.” Luke said. It didn’t matter he had just had spaghetti, he was pretty much always hungry. 

“Come on over.” Sutter said. 

“Ya ok.” He said.

“Alright. See ya soon.” Sutter said and Luke smiled. 

“K, see ya” He said and kept his eyes on the road and the phone dropped in his hand. He glanced down and hit end. He looked back up and shoved it in his pocket and it dawned on him how Mickey got in the house. 

He pulled his phone back out to be sure. He stopped at a light and hit the screen for phone numbers. He saw it immediately, he put the phone in his pocket smiling. 

Mickey was not physic and he wasn’t a cat burglar he had simply punched in the code because he knew it, the code was 6425.

M.I.C.K. 

 

Mickey pushed a hand under his nose and hissed, he probably broke it this time. He looked over at Ian with a glare, he was lying on the floor with his eyes open on the ceiling, he panted and looked over at him, he saw his look and lifted his head. 

“Oh ow.” Ian hissed and rolled to his side lowering a hand to his ribs. Mickey nodded and smirked, his lip split and he pushed his palm into it. 

“Fuck.” He said and it was muffled against his hand. Ian opened his eyes and looked up at him, he saw the hurt was still there but the fury had mostly passed. He had been pissed Trevor was there but when Ian had said he left him his blood had boiled over and he had been enraged. He took deep painful breaths and closed his eyes. 

“YOU LEFT ME.” Ian had said and instead of rage he felt pain that Ian would think that even for a second. 

“You really think that?” he said and Ian didn’t answer him. He opened his eyes and saw Ian roll onto his back bringing his hand over his eyes. Mickey’s heart shook in his chest, he leaned forward reaching out his hand and brought it over Ian’s arm and Ian pulled away immediately. 

He shifted forward onto his knees, he sat on his legs and looked down at him. Ian was shaking but not from rage or anger, it was pain and hurt. Mickey lowered his bloody hands and lowered his body down until he was on the floor beside him, he looked over Ian’s half covered face. He raised his hand and lightly moved his fingers over his arm, he felt Ian tense up and his heart twisted in his chest. 

“Ian.” He said softly. 

He moved his hand over his arm and to his hand over his eyes. He felt Ian relax his arm and he lifted his hand off of his eyes, he watched Ian’s eyes open and he threaded his fingers through his. Ian turned his head and his eyes came to his, they were wet with tears and Mickey tightened his hand in his. He lifted his head and brought it over Ian’s bringing his other hand to his face. Ian’s eyes were looking over his face and he slide his thumb over his wet cheek. 

“Shh.” He said and Ian’s eyes filled. His eyes fill with tears as Ian’s hand come on his neck and his eyes closed. His heart filled as Ian brought his hand to his face, he opened his eyes and he saw all the love in Ian’s eyes and he let out a long slow breath. He lowered his head and brushed his lips over his. Ian let out a breath and his fingers tightened over his. 

Ian’s eyes flashed with love and he deepened the kiss, Ian’s hand held his face and their breath came faster. Ian pushed him to his back and Mickey pushed his hands over his skin, Ian hissed in and out as he grabbed at his belt and pulled at it, Ian looked down as he braced over him. He shoved down his jeans and Ian shoved his mouth over his. He pulled him over him and tore at his clothes. He lifted his head and smiled at him, Ian’s eyes lit up and he grabbed his neck pulling his down to his open wet mouth. 

Mickey pulled him up and Ian pushed him back against the side of the bed, he smiled against Ian’s lips and Ian’s hands gripped his. Ian slowed the kiss and Mickey felt his mind spin and his breath stop, Ian lowered his mouth to his neck and turned his head into his throat. Mickey let out a hot breath and felt Ian’s tongue slide over his skin, he felt Ian’s hand pulling him and he turned around bringing their hands down to the bed as Ian’s mouth closed over his shoulder. He felt Ian breathe over his skin and he gasped out a breath as Ian slid in him. Ian moved hard and steady and he felt every move he made, he grunted and he let his head fall to the bed. 

Ian’s hand moved over his neck and his eyes rolled.

Ian gripped his cock and his head snapped up, his lips went back and he held his breath as agonizing pleasure shot through him. He came long and hand while Ian moved his hand over him moving in him with hard thrusts. 

He breathed out and panted hard against the bed. Ian let go of him and he gasped and felt Ian shove his body weight over him and tense against him. His hand tightened in his and he felt his teeth on his back, his skin flashed with goosebumps. Ian hands relaxed and he felt him start to slide down to the floor. 

He held his hand tighter and pulled it around to bring him closer, he reached his other hand up and pulled his other arm around him bringing their hands together on the bed. He held his hands and stroked over his hands with his thumbs, he lifted his head back against Ian’s. He felt Ian’s lips and his breath on his neck. Mickey lifted one leg and pulled Ian’s arms with him and he climbed onto the bed. He let go of one hand and pulled his jeans off and he felt Ian shift down onto the bed. He came down next to him and wrapped his arm around him, Mickey pulled him in and Ian’s arms came around him. He breathed him in and felt Ian’s heartbeat pounding against his chest. 

“I missed you.” Ian said and Mickey’s heart spilled out into every part of him. Ian lifted his face and he lifted his hand to hold to his jaw and Mickey’s heart shook. 

“I missed you too.” He said and Ian’s eyes softened. He lifted his hand and brought it over his hair. Ian smiled sweetly and kissed him, Mickey moved his hand over his face and Ian rolled over him.

“Hmm guess you did miss me.” He said smiling up at Ian. 

“A little.” Ian said and held the back of his neck arching it. Mickey felt his teeth in his neck and moved his hand over Ian’s skin. 

"I love you.” He said. Ian lifted his head and Mickey saw the light in his eyes. 

“I love you too.” Ian said softly and lowered his lips to his. 

 

Ian’s eyes were closing, he opened them wider and blinked. He rolled onto his back and looked over at the clock. 6:40. He rubbed a hand over his face and rolled back over to Mickey, he caught his hand and held it when he brought it back down and Ian smiled. 

They hadn’t left the bed once and they probably should.

He didn’t move and his eyes closed. He felt Mickey stir beside him and he felt him lift his hand and smack a kiss on it before gently bringing it down on the bed. He opened his eyes and watched him stand up in the dim light, they still weren’t fully undressed even though they’d been in bed for the better part of two hours. He still had his socks on he realized as he wiggled his toes, he smiled and rolled onto his back. Mickey found his jeans and pulled them on, he zipped them up and pushed his fingers over his eyes. 

They hadn’t talked about where he’d been yet, they’d been pretty busy. 

“Why are we getting up?” Ian asked with a smile. 

Mickey smiled and nodded his head at him. 

“You stay, I need some fucking food.” He said and walked into the hallway. 

Ian twisted his mouth up.

‘I could eat.’ He thought and sat up slowly, his head spun a little as he stood up. 

“Luke made spaghetti.” He called out and walked around the bed. He saw his jeans, they were in a pile of drywall. He turned to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and stepped into them. 

“Maaan.” He heard Mickey say as he turned into the hallway.

“Oh shit.” He said and looked over the destroyed walls. He stepped over the bigger piles and stepped into the kitchen. Mickey was holding the refrigerator door open.

“What?” Ian asked and rubbed at his eye.

“He ate all the spaghetti.” Mickey said and Ian laughed. He didn’t give a shit about the walls or the fact that he was still covered in blood, he wanted spaghetti. 

“Where’d he go?” Mickey asked looking over at him.

“He left?” Ian said. 

“Ya, like hours ago.” Mickey said with a laugh. 

“Huh.” Ian said and walked up behind Mickey as he stared into the fridge. He wrapped his arm around his waist. 

“There’s leftover pork chops.” He said and kissed Mickey’s neck.

“Mm.” Mickey murmured and Ian felt him relax against him. 

“Bacon?” Ian said and smiled. Mickey didn’t answer him, he was just leaning against him breathing. 

Mickey let go of the door and turned around quickly with his eyes closed. His arms came around him and Mickey breathed in and out hard. Mickey was over being pissed and had made sure they were OK and now the rest was hitting him, everything that could have happened and everything that did, leaving them and hurting him. Mickey felt all of it and with an intensity that raged though him. 

Ian held him close and rubbed a hand over his head and back. 

“We’re OK.” He said and kissed the side of his head. Mickey held him tighter and Ian felt his heart slow down against him. 

He felt Mickey relax in his arms. He pulled his head back and ran his fingers over Mickey’s face. 

“I hate that you left but you were right, I did understand.” He said and Mickey’s eyes opened. They were dark and he saw the pain in them. He brought his hand to his face and lifted his chin, he saw Mickey’s eyes clear as they came to his. 

“Luke gave it to you?” He asked and Ian saw the pain he felt when he had to leave. 

He lifted his hand and pulled at the chain around his neck, Mickey’s ring came out from under his shirt. Mickey saw it and his eyes went soft and came up to his, he smiled and lifted the long chain over his head. He held his fingers together and undid the clasp, he lifted the chain from his hand and it sat in the palm of his hand. 

“He gave it to me.” Ian said. He knew Mickey hadn’t meant the letter, he had meant the ring. He knew Mickey and his ring was a part of him, he had left it for him and he hadn’t taken it off since Luke had given it to him. 

Mickey smiled and closed his hand over his. He took it and lifted his hand to put it back on, Ian smiled and watched him lower it down and clench his hand into a fist. 

Mickey let out a long breath and said, “Man that’s better.” 

“Let me see.” Ian said and Mickey lifted his hand and he held it and looked over it. 

“Yep, still fits.” He said and smiled, Mickey wiggled his fingers and giggled. 

“Felt weird.” He said and looked down at his hand when Ian let it go. 

“Ya?” He asked and opened the fridge and brought out a beer, he handed it to Mickey. 

“Ya man.” He said and closed his hand over his ring, He lifted a second beer and opened it for himself. 

“Pizza?” he said and Mickey smiled around his beer. 

 

Ian grabbed two more beers out of the refrigerator and kicked it closed. The pizza was half gone but Mickey was still eating. 

“How long has it been since you ate?” He asked as he came up to the table. 

Mickey shrugged and reached out for the beer. Ian in his seat facing him and saw his eyes were drawn and tired. He twisted off his cap and took a long drink with his eyes on Mickey, he drank his beer and looked up at him. 

“Man it’s good to be home.” Mickey said smiling. 

Ian smiled and nodded his head, he turned the beer over the table in circles looking down at the table. He need to say some things and was trying to get his head around them. Mickey’s eyes when he had snapped at the safe house had haunted him for weeks. 

“You want to fucking go, go. I’m not gonna stop you.” He had said in blind anger. 

He had seen the hurt in Mickey’s eyes before he had shut down and stepped away. He hadn’t seen that look in years, his eyes had emptied and he saw the click of Mickey protecting himself because the pain was too intense. 

His heart twisted in his chest and he took a deep breathe, after everything they had been through he had let his anger take over and had pushed at him to hurt him. When Luke had told him he was gone he had immediately thought of his eyes and he felt his heart shatter, the one thought that pushed at him was that could be the last thing he ever said to Mickey and it had taken all of his strength to function after that. 

Every day the worry grew and he had needed to be here, he needed to be home. 

Luke had given him the letter and he felt the worry lift from his heart a little. If Mickey promised he’d be back but when Ian had seen Mickey’s ring his heart had settled in his chest and he felt relief and love move through him. 

It had been a little easier after that but every day was longer than the day before, he barely slept thinking about the last day before Mickey left. They had been exhausted and freaked out about the safe house and worried about Luke when they got to the little apartment, they had lashed out at each other and it was brutal. Luke had been there though, he had sat with him at the safe house and had followed him out the door without question. 

Ian smiled thinking about Luke, he was always quietly watching him and making sure he was OK, he made sure he smiled and laughed as much as he could and he made sure he ate when he didn’t really feel like it. He’d pop his head around the office door while Ian looked online for news about Mickey, Ian wouldn’t look up and Luke would quietly close the door behind him. 

“Luke was good.” Ian said. 

“Yeah” Mickey said taking bite of pizza.

Ian smirked “Kept his room sorta clean.” 

“Ha.” Mickey said smiling as sat back, he picked up a napkin and wiped his smiling lips. 

“Still plays his music too loud, I come home to the house vibrating with love songs from the 90’s” Ian said with a dry tone. 

“Ya what’s that about?” Mickey said with a smile as he picked up his beer. “He was fucking singing and not well” 

Ian laughed and nodded. “He does that now.” He said. Mickey flashed him a sweet smile and Ian took a breath. He held his beer in both hands and let his heart speak the words his brain still couldn’t work out. 

“I’m sorry.” He said. He didn’t look up at Mickey but felt his eyes on him.

“For what I said.” He said and felt his eyes fill. “For what I did.” He added and couldn’t think about stepping away when Mickey hand reached his hand out to him. 

He saw Mickey’s hand move across the table and come over to his wrist. Mickey turned his hand gently and slid his hand in his. He closed his fingers around his and let himself breathe. 

“I was so pissed.” He said. He shook his head and closed his eyes. He felt Mickey’s finger tighten around his. 

“No.” Ian said. “You forgive me because you love me but that was….” He trailed off, the word he wanted to say was unforgivable but couldn’t make himself say it. 

His eyes filled behind his closed eyes. 

Mickey’s thumb moved back and forth across the back of his hand steadily and he focused on his touch. Mickey sat and let him be because he needed it, he held his hand and waited for him to get his shit together. He crossed his hand over his arm and closed it over Mickey’s hand. 

“Stop.” Mickey said quietly. Ian took a deep breath and opened his eyes, Mickey’s eyes were soft and he tilted his head to the side. 

“It was fucked up.” Mickey said simply. “Being there and Luke…?” 

Ian looked back down at his beer. 

“Hey.” Mickey said as he squeezed his hand. Ian looked back at him.

“I know why you said it and ya it sucked.” Mickey said. 

Ian saw his eyes flash with the memory. 

“But I left.” Mickey said pointing to himself. Mickey’s eyes flashed with the hurt he had caused him and Luke. 

Ian squeezed his hand and Mickey took a long breath and looked at the beer in his hands. Ian waited and watched Mickey’s face and eyes roll with emotions. 

“But I knew you’d be alright, you and Luke.” He said. Ian felt his heart swell inside his chest, Mickey thought of them first and always. He lifted his hand off of Mickey’s and reached over across the table. He lowered his head to his arm and let it rest there looking up at Mickey. 

Mickey’s eyes came to his and he smiled quickly and put his beer down. He lifted his hand over his hair and Ian smiled up at him. Mickey bit his lip over his smile and Ian lifted his head as Mickey leaned into him. He saw Mickey’s eyes as he came forward and opened his lips as Mickey’s came to his and kissed him softly. 

“Mmm.” Ian murmured. “Missed those lips.” 

“Ya? You fucking busted em up.” Mickey said as he scowled at him. Ian smiled, he loved that scowly face. 

“Aw.” Ian said. He brought his hand up and lifted Mickey’s chin to get a better look. 

“I did huh?” He said. Mickey was looking down at him and his eyes lifted to his.

“Yeah!” Mickey said. Ian kissed his split lip, Mickey grumbled but Ian saw the light in his eyes. 

“Think you broke my fucking nose too.” Mickey said. 

Ian turned his head. “Now you’re just being a baby.” Ian said with a smirk. 

Mickey lowered his chin and his mouth opened. 

“You wanna go again?” Mickey said lightly waving his hand back and forth between them . 

“Nah but I want to get you on the floor again.” Ian said biting his lip. 

“Hmph.” Mickey said and looked away. Ian tilted his head and gave him a big bright smile. 

Mickey glanced over and shifted his eyes away crossing his arms over his chest. 

Ian nodded, ‘Alright.’ He thought as he stood up, he leaned over and smacked a kiss on his cheek. Mickey glared at him but Ian saw his eyes sparkle. He turn into the hallway and stepped into the bathroom whistling. He stripped off his bloody shirt and reached in to turn on the shower, he left the door open as he stripped off his sweatpants and stepped into the shower. Ian closed his eyes as spray hit his back and he pushed his hand over his hair, he left the hot water sting his ripped up knuckles as they moved over his head. 

He heard the shower curtain move and opened his eyes, Mickey was stepping into the shower with hot eyes and a bloody face. Ian smiled at him and Mickey’s arms came around his waist, he lowered his arms to rest them on Mickey’s shoulders. 

“I love you.” He said and watched Mickey’s eyes light up. “More than you’ll ever know.” 

Mickey’s eyes were on his and he could see clear into his soul. Ian brought his hands to his face and held it with the water beating down on his back. 

“I’ll never say anything to make you look at me like that again.” He said. 

“Ian.” Mickey said softly. 

“No.” Ian said firmly. “I need to say this.” Mickey looked into his eyes steadily and Ian took a breath in.

“I’ll never break your heart again as long as I’m breathing.” He said clearly. Mickey’s eyes stayed on his and he lifted his hand to his wrist. 

“I’ll never leave again as long as I’m breathing.” Mickey said as he bought his hand up to his hand resting on Mickey’s face. Ian opened his fingers and Mickey’s came through his. Mickey lowered their hands and they hung by their sides as Ian brought his lips over Mickey’s sweet split lips. 

 

Luke unlocked the door and cautiously opened it, he peeked his head in and the room was empty. 

He stepped in and quickly punched in the code. 

‘Mick HA!’ he thought and unzipped his coat, the kitchen light was on and there was an open pizza box on the counter. That was a good sign, they ate. Well it might have just been one of them celebrating the others demise. 

He hung up his coat and walked quietly over the hard wood. What kind of pizza? He thought as he walked to the counter. He had eaten like two hours ago but it was pizza, there’s always room for pizza. It was pepperoni, Mickey’s favorite. OK Mickey was probably alive he thought picking up a piece and shoving it into his mouth. He walked into the hallway and smiled at the broken walls. 

‘Man they’re hard core.” He thought. 

Their room was probably just as bad. He stopped in the hallway and listened and heard nothing. He walked up to their door and had a thought of getting a gun and busting in on them.

“Nah, that wouldn’t be right.’ He thought. ‘I’ll wait until I’m really sure they’re going at it and THEN bust in on them.’ He smiled and took a big bite of pizza tapping on the door lightly. 

“You alive in there?” he said around his pizza. 

“Mm.” he heard. That was Mickey. 

“Ian?” He said. 

He heard Mickey grunt and heard. “Huh”

“Luke.” He heard Mickey say. 

“Ya?” Ian said and his voice was muffled. 

“You alive?” he said smiling. 

“Think so.” Ian said still muffled. 

“Good.” He said and walked to his room eating pizza. He closed his door and kicked his shoes off, he shoved the rest of the pizza in his mouth and lifted his shirt off, he had left in a rush and didn’t even have socks on. He had had dinner with the Sutter’s including their son Jason, he was rarely home and Luke had only met him a couple of times. He was a lot like James but not as funny, he was way more serious but he was a nice person. 

Luke put it his headphones, got under the covers and hit shuffle on his playlist. He smiled and thought about the craziness that was them. Mickey was pure emotion but smart as a whip. Ian was all cerebral but man you do not want to piss him off. 

And then there was him, he was cerebral and had a temper. Sometimes his emotions overwhelmed him and sometimes he thought too much. The first time he had seen them together they had been a blur of orange and black, blues and white. That was how they still were, they swirled together in his heart like one blur of love.

 

Mickey was walking down a dark street and there were dark shadows all around him, his heart beat faster and he tried to see all of them. They came at him from all directions and he saw Ian far away walking away from him. 

“Ian.” He called out. He watched Ian walk away and tried to follow him but the shadows came and he couldn’t see him. 

“IAN.” He said but he couldn’t hear his own voice and he pushed at the shadows. 

“Mick.” He heard. “WAKE UP.” He opened his eyes and Ian was over him holding his arms over his head. He was panting and he let out a breath when his eyes opened. 

“Jesus.” Ian said. 

“Fuck.” Mickey said and his heart pounded in his chest. Ian rolled to his side and brought his arm with him. He felt him looking at him and opened his eyes. 

“Whoa.” He said and felt Ian rubbing a hand over his arm. He lowered his arm and wrapped it around Ian, he lifted his head up and Mickey rolled into him. 

He felt Ian’s heart pounding as fast as his and rubbed his hand over his hair. 

“I’m OK.” He said and he felt Ian nod against him. 

He felt Ian’s hand move over his back steadily and calmed down slowly. Ian pulled his head back and Mickey opened his eyes, he could see Ian’s eyes in the dim light. Mickey closed his hand around his wedding ring and felt it on his finger, he had felt different without it. He had felt like he had no anchor and he would and could let his demons take over. 

He hadn’t but he had come close. 

“He was a runner.” Mickey said and Ian’s eyes were on his. “They’re like bottom of the barrel but I found out he had moved up.” He let out a breath and Ian moved his hand over his side and Mickey moved his hand to his and felt Ian’s hand take his. He closed his eyes and felt his anchor. 

“He’s a big shot now and I couldn’t get close to him, that’s what took me so long but I followed him for over a week and he would go to a little house a couple times a week so I’m thinking girlfriend. “ Ian nodded and Mickey rolled to his back bringing Ian’s hand over his chest. 

“It wasn’t a girlfriend, he was going to see his kid.” Mickey pushed a hand over his eyes and remembered the little girl with dark hair and dark eyes, she smiled all the time. Mickey let his hand fall to the bed. 

“I didn’t have a choice, I had to do it then.” He said. He felt Ian tense beside him. 

“I couldn’t.” He said. “I didn’t have to.” Ian lifted onto his elbow and Mickey closed his eyes. 

“Who did?” Ian said. Mickey waved out a hand and he felt Ian sit up beside him. He opened his eyes and Ian was sitting crossed legged on the bed with his hand still in his. 

“Someone hit the house.” He said.

“With the kid in it?”

“Ya.” he said. 

“Holy shit.” Ian said and he covered his mouth with his hand. Mickey nodded and pushed a hand through his hair. 

“Bullets flying, people screamin….” He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. 

“You were there?” Ian asked and Mickey looked up at him. 

“She was fucking little and he was trying to get out of the house, he was hit bad. He was carrying her and I saw the guys who were shooting turn their guns toward them. He didn’t even have a fucking gun.” Mickey said.

“Oh my God.” Ian said. 

“I started shooting and didn’t stop until they were all down.”

Ian didn’t move or speak, he sucked in breath and looked up at him. He felt his hand tighten around his fingers and let out his breath remembering looking over and seeing the father covering the little girl completely with his body. He had rushed over with his gun up and he had looked up and his eyes had been deadly until he saw what he had done, they rolled closed and he let his head fall back to the ground. The little girl was silent and he had thought she was dead, he had looked away and worked his jaw, he crouched down and the guy’s eyes had opened into slits. 

He had nodded and held his hand out cautiously. The man had moved and he saw the little girls face pop out, her eyes were wide and she was scared but there wasn’t a scratch on her. 

“Hey.” He had said and smiled. She had taken one look at him and started screaming her head off. 

“She could fucking scream though.” He said with a smile. 

“She wasn’t shot?” Ian asked. 

“Oh no, he shielded her.“ He said. “Shot six times.”

“Whoa.” Ian breathed out. 

“Ya.” He said nodding, he sat up and shoved himself back against the headboard, he picked up his smokes and pulled one out with one hand. He lit it and inhaled sharply. 

“He was a fucking mess.” He said. 

“What did you do?” Ian asked. 

Mickey looked down at his smoke and rolled his eyes back up to Ian’s 

“Dragged his ass to his car with the kid screaming all the way.” He said with a smile. 

Ian laughed and stopped to make sure he wasn’t fucking with him, Mickey nodded and tiled his head with a shrug. Ian laughed harder and Mickey laughed with him. 

“Ya huh?” He said. “I go to Mexico to kill a guy and end up saving his ass, I bust up my fucking foot AND lose my fucking hearing with all the screaming.” He said and Ian leaned over and laughed. Mickey shook his head and smiled. 

“How fucked up is that?” He asked with a smirk and took a drag of his smoke smiling. 

“Pretty fucked up.” Ian said. He held out his hand and Ian took the smoke, he rested his head on the headboard and smiled.

“But we never have to worry about going to Mexico again.” He said.

“Hm?” Ian murmured around the smoke. 

“He was pretty fucking grateful.” Mickey said. “He found me before I left and had his people bring me to him in the hospital.

“What?” Ian said. 

“Ya man they grabbed me off the street.”

“Fuck.” Ian said and handed him the smoke. 

“Ya man I thought that was it.” He said shaking his head. “But he just wanted to thank me and let me know he’d protect us from now on.” 

“Really.” Ian said with his eyes narrowed. 

Mickey nodded and brought a hand up, “It was fucking weird like all Godfathery.”

Ian giggled and he took a long drag of his smoke smiling. 

“But hey whatever, we’re good.” He said. Ian nodded and held out his hand, he held out the smoke and Ian took it. 

“Shit man, you have all the fun without me around.” Ian said and Mickey laughed low in his throat. 

“Mexican cartels? Shootouts? Next time, I get to have a shootout with the Mexican Cartel” Ian said and Mickey laughed, he saw that Ian was totally serious and started giggling. Ian smiled and reached over him crushing out the smoke.

“You think I’m kidding?” he said with his eyes on his.

“No.” He said with a laugh. 

“Hm?” Ian said and bit his lower lip. Mickey saw the look in his eyes and his giggles stopped. Ian leaned in and slid his tongue through his lips opening them, he teased his tongue and he saw his hot eyes on his. 

“Next time you can drag the drug lord’s ass to the car.” He said with a wicked smile and watched Ian’s eyes flicker with love and laughter. He pulled his face into his and Mickey opened his mouth and Ian teased his tongue. His eyes closed and he felt all the love and heat roll off of Ian, he gripped his waist and pulled him down to the bed and rolled over him. 

He lifted his head and bit his lip looking down at Ian’s sweet face. 

“Think I’ll start here.” He said in a low hot voice. Ian moved his hands over his skin and he felt goosebumps flash over him, he lowered his mouth to his neck tasting his skin. It had only been three weeks but he had missed every single inch of him, he slid his tongue over his skin and held his neck. He turned into his neck and brought his open lips over it pulling at his skin. He brought his lips to his ear and said.

“You taste so good.” He bit Ian’s ear and Ian hissed out a hot breath. 

“Mm.” he murmured and licked over Ian’s collar bone, he felt Ian tense under him and he opened his mouth over his chest and moved his hand over his skin as he licked and bit his way down his body. He bit his hip and looked up at Ian, his eyes were closed and he was panting. 

“Hmm.” He hummed against him and Ian hissed. He bit his hip and Ian jerked under him, he saw his head lift up and look down at him. 

“I’m just gettin’ started.” He said and smiled when Ian’s eyes rolled and his head fell back onto the pillow.


	8. Chapter 8

Ian paced and Mickey tried his phone again, he put it down and shook his head. Ian threw his hands up and walked over to the window for the third time. 

“He said he’d be home by now.” Ian said. 

“He’ll be here.” He said but looked down at his phone. Luke was not usually late and especially not today. He wanted a beer but decided against it, that wouldn’t look good. 

“Shit there he is.” Ian said and he walked back toward the kitchen. 

The door flew open and Luke came running in. 

“I know, I know.” Luke said as he ran full speed through the living room. He was wearing his baseball uniform and he was covered in dirt. 

“Jesus Luke.” Ian said. “Did you roll around in it?” 

Luke called out as he ran. “Stole second.” 

Ian pointed at him. “Your fault.” He said and Mickey scowled and brought a hand up. 

“What the fuck? He shot out. “How is that my fault?” 

“How many baseball games have you gone to?” Ian asked.

“Like twenty.” Luke called out. 

“Ya OK, but how’s it my fucking fault he’s late?” He asked with a scowl.

“Well OK, that’s all HIM.” he called out and he heard Luke laugh. 

“YA.” He called out and heard the shower start. Ian smiled and Mickey shook his head. Luke was into baseball but he was never going to play for the Yankee’s. He was an uber geek but he had gotten into a few shows Luke watched and they were on the fucking Sci Fi channel but they were pretty good. He pushed back in the chair and looked down the hall, the bathroom door was open and he heard the water turn off.

“That was like 10 seconds.” He said and watched Luke fly out of the bathroom soaking wet with a towel gripped around his waist. He slipped and Mickey started to bolt up but Luke caught himself and laughed. 

“Fuck.” Mickey said and waved his hands up. He sat back and looked up at the clock, they had to be there in 30 minutes. 

“Fuck it.” He said and stood up, he walked to the fridge and opened it he grabbed two beers and handed one to Ian, he reached out and took it. He twisted off the cap and Ian twisted his off and threw it behind him on the counter. 

Ian pushed his beer over to his and tapped it. 

“Here’s to parenthood.” Ian said dryly and smiled. 

“Yup.” He said and lifted his beer, he took a long drink and brought it down leaning against the counter next to Ian. 

“What were we thinking?” He said. 

Ian shrugged and shook his head. “We got caught up.” Ian said. 

“Ya we did.” He said with a long heavy sigh. 

“Think it’s too late for military school?” Ian asked and he smiled brightly at him. 

“Nah. “He said. 

“HA HA.” Luke said as he came around the corner, he was dressed in black pants and a white dress shirt. He was almost as tall as Ian and his hair was still too long, it was wet but he had at least pushed a comb through it and he smelled much better. He was buttoning up his shirt, his glasses slid down and he lifted his face and tugged at the collar. 

“Ready.” He said pushing his glasses back in place. 

“No.” Ian said. 

“What?” Luke said and lifted his hands. 

“Tie.” Ian said.

“Come ON.” Luke shot out. 

He nodded and straightened up. “Put on a fucking tie.” He said. 

“I don’t have a fucking tie.” Luke said with his eyes wide, Mickey laughed into his beer. Luke was totally freaked about today. 

Ian put his beer down and lifted his hand to his neck. “Here.” He said and pulled at it, he undid the knot and slid it off his neck, he held it out to Luke. 

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Luke said as he took it and hung it around his neck.

“There! Happy? Luke said glaring at them. 

“Ya.” He said and looked at Ian. “You?”

“Thrilled. “Ian said and picked his beer back up. 

“Lets gooo” Luke said waving his arms as he walked toward the living room. Mickey smiled and tilted his head. 

“Who the fuck was late?” He asked Ian. 

“Not me” Ian said. “I’ve been dressed and ready to go for like an hour.”

“You look good too.” Mickey said and raised his eyebrows putting the beer down on the counter. Ian was dressed like Luke in dress pants and button up shirt. Even without the tie he looked good enough to eat. Mickey bit his lip and tilted his head at Ian. 

“So do you.” Ian said and looked him up and down with hot eyes.

“And we’re going…..” Mickey heard and he let his head fall to his shoulder as he looked over to the door at Luke, he was waving an arm and holding the door open. 

“Alright, Jesus.” He said and took a long drink of his beer while he walked. He put the empty on the table by the door and he closed the door behind them. He locked the door and squinted his eyes in the bright sunlight. He walked to the car as Luke shoved himself into the backseat. He had to really squeeze in there. He had been standing next to him one day and realized he had to look up at him. He was just under 6 feet and hadn’t stopped growing yet. 

He walked around the car and hopped in, he slammed the door and opened the window. 

“We gotta GO.” Ian said and hit the gas, they sped down the street and Mickey pulled out his smokes. 

“You stole second?” he asked. 

“Ya but the pitcher was more interested in the batter’s ass than me.” He said from the backseat. Mickey smiled and put the smoke in his teeth. He lit it and pulled in the nicotine. 

“Chic pitcher?” He asked and took a long drag. 

“No.” Luke said. Mickey smiled and reached over to the radio, Ian was focused on driving fast and not killing them so he only got a dirty look. He braced his arm on the window and lowered his arm out. It was a nice fucking day, the sun was shining but there was no humidity. 

When they were done they could take this shit off and fire up the grill. They had taken the day off and Luke was supposed to not have a game but they had been rained out last week and the schedule changed. If they made it on time it would be a fucking miracle. 

He heard Luke growl and looked over his shoulder, he was pulling at the tie and unknotting it, he watched him flip it over three times. Luke’s wet hair fell down like a curtain over his face as looked down at the tie. 

“Fuck it.” Luke said and pushed it up. Mickey shifted in his seat and held the smoke out to Ian, he took it and waved a hand at Luke. 

“Here, let me...” He said smiling. Luke pushed his hair back and let out a long sigh leaning forward. Mickey pulled at the tie and started over. Luke stayed still and let him redo the tie as they move back and forth with the swaying of the car. He pushed the tie up and Luke lifted his head and brought his hand up to it. 

“Thanks.” He said and Mickey saw his eyes light up when they came to his. He reached out and patted his cheek and Luke smiled. 

“We might make it.” Ian said. 

“Ya?” Luke said sitting up between them. Ian took a drag of the smoke and nodded, he held it out and Mickey reached for it but before he could grab it he saw Luke’s hand reach out and take it. He twisted up his face and watched him take a drag. 

“What the fuck?” He said. Ian was turning his head from the road to Luke. Luke coughed and waved a hand at the smoke but he took another drag. 

He waved a hand up and Luke held it out to him. He looked at Ian and Ian was smiling wickedly. 

“We’re a bad influence.” He said.

“Ya you are.” Luke said. 

Mickey smiled and took a long drag of the smoke. 

 

Ian pulled into the parking lot with tires screeching and sped up to the front of the building, he whipped into a stop and they all went forward as he braked. 

“Nice.” Mickey said looking at the clock, they had one minute to spare. He pulled open the door and held it open for Luke, he squeezed out and straightened out next to him. He slammed the door and they walked together toward the courthouse. They walked quickly up the steps and Mickey pulled open the door. 

“Fuck.” Luke said stopping dead in his tracks with his eyes wide. Ian stopped beside him and patted his back.

“Come on man.” Ian said. “First court appearance is a Gallagher rite of passage.”

Luke turned to him and smirked. Ian laughed and brought his arm up around his neck. Luke nodded and rolled his eyes and they landed on his. 

He held the door open and waited. Luke took a deep breath and started forward, Ian smiled and his arm slipped off of his neck. Ian smiled at him as he walked through the door, he took a deep breath and followed Ian. Luke was standing still in front of them, Ian and Mickey stepped up beside him and Luke started walking, they fell in step together and walked through the courthouse with Luke between them.

 

Luke opened the courthouse door and walked in, Phillip turned around and he glared at them. He felt a hand on his back and stepped forward. 

“All rise.” He heard and everybody rose. Phillip waved at him frantically with his lips back and turned toward the judge. Luke moved quickly to the front and side stepped behind the chair Phillip stood in front of. 

He stepped up and around the chair beside Phillip just as he heard “Be seated.” 

He let out a breath and sat down as he looked up at the judge. He was big or maybe he just looked big behind the huge bench. He had white hair and looked like Patrick Stewart. He was almost bald and the hair he did have was white, he wore glasses on the end of his nose and they made him look very stern. Luke read his name in the plaque on the front of the bench. 

Judge George Macintyre.

He flipped open a folder and looked up over his glasses at him, Luke’s gut clenched but he kept his eyes level on his. His eyes moved away and Luke let out the breath he was holding. 

“Mr. Westford, this is a surprise.” He said and Phillip stood up. 

“Yes, your honor.” He said. “Hopefully a good one.”

The judge grunted but Phillip wasn’t deterred. 

“Luke Stevens.” Judge Macintyre said. Luke barely recognized the name, he had been Luke Gallagher for over three years.

“Yes your honor, Luke is a very special kid who is a violin savant and has been offered early admission to three Ivy League schools. ‘ His head went back and he looked up at Phillip.

That was not true. 

He did play the violin and had been offered early admission to one Ivy League school, the others were regular colleges. He looked at the judge and saw he could tell Phillip was laying it on pretty thick. He looked down and read while Phillip went on and on about him. He saw the judge look down at his file and saw his face twist and knew he was reading about his life before Ian and Mickey. 

The judge looked up at Westford and sat back. 

“Yes, thank you.” He said and held up a hand. Phillip stopped and stood motionless. 

He picked up the file and read it.

“You’ve been through it my friend.” He said and Luke heard the caring tone, he also heard a no bullshit tone he liked immediately.

Alright no bullshit, he braced his hands on the arm chairs and stood up.

“Yes sir.” He said and the judge looked over at him with surprise, he nodded and his lips turned up at the corners a fraction. 

Phillip sat down and Luke stood by himself and owned who he was before Ian and Mickey. 

The judge sat back and turned his chair toward him. 

“You’re 17?" He asked. 

“Yes sir.” He said.

“Is everything he said true?” He asked and waved a hand at Westford. 

“Yes and no your honor.” He said smiling. 

“What’s true?” Judge Macintyre asked and his eyes came to his with laser focus. 

“I do play the violin but I’m not a savant. I was offered early admission into one Ivy League school but it was a little one.” He said.

“A little one.” The judge said and looked over at the file. “Brown is a little one?” He said. 

“Yes sir.”

“I see.” He said. “Why didn’t you go?” he asked and brought his hand together in front of him. 

“I wanted to stay home.” He said simply. ”I was just started my junior year and it didn’t feel right.” 

The judge nodded. “Are you planning on going to college?”

Luke smiled. “Yes sir, I’ve applied to Julliard.” He said. 

“But you’re not a violin savant?” He said. 

“No, my audition is next week and trust me if I was a savant I wouldn’t have to practice as much as I do.” He said. 

“Only Julliard?” he asked. 

“No, I have applied to other schools but Julliard is my first choice.” He said. 

He flipped a page and looked down at it. 

“You’ve been with your guardians for three years.”

“Three and a half sir.” He said. 

“How did you come to be live with them?” Phillip stood up beside him. 

“Your honor..” Phillip said and Luke put his hand up to his arm. 

Phillip turned to him, he smiled and said, “It’s OK.” 

Phillip sighed and nodded, he sat back down and Luke turned toward the judge. 

“For most of my life before Mickey and Ian I was nobody, I barely had a name. I wasn’t taken care of and I was beaten, I was broken and I wanted to die. I didn’t know there was life outside of that and then Ian found me.” He smiled and the judge pushed a finger under his glasses.

“They brought me home, they saw I needed help and helped me, they saw I was hungry and fed me. They saw something in me and took me in, they didn’t know me and they gave me a home. They let me be me, they let me breathe and grow up in a safe home. I’m not just safe, I’m happy and loved by all of these people.” He said and waved a hand back, he knew they were all behind him.

“This is my family and we’re a little crazy but they’re mine.” He said with a smile and heard the low laughs behind him. 

The judge looked down at him and the room went totally quiet. 

“I don’t think that answered your question very well.” He said. 

Judge Macintyre cleared his throat quickly. “It did.” He said facing forward and lifting up a page in the file. 

“Ian Gallagher and Mikhailo Milkovich, am I saying that right?” He asked Luke.

“Yes your honor.” He said smiling.

Ian and Mickey were coming through the opening and behind Phillip. Ian walked past him and he stepped aside so Mickey could stand between him and Phillip. They stood next to him in front of the judge. 

“Mr. Gallagher? “ 

Ian raised a hand beside him, the judge looked over his glasses at him.

The judge zeroed in on Mickey. 

“You have a lengthy prison record Mr. Milkovich.” he said and looked down at the page. “Theft, assault and attempted murder.” 

Phillip stood up. 

“Your honor, Mr. Milkovich has been out of trouble and jail for 8 years. He has not only become a productive member of society but counts police officers and federal agents as his close personal friends." Phillip said.

“I don’t care who his friends are.” The judge said in his no bullshit tone. 

“Your honor?” He heard. 

It was James. 

Judge Macintyre looked up. “Agent Sutter?” 

“Yes sir, hello.” James said. His voice was friendly and warm. “May I approach the bench.” The judge gave him a hard look and nodded. 

He looked over and James walked up to the opening and looked over him, he widened his eyes dramatically and Luke smiled at him. He turned back toward the judge and kept his smiling eyes down on the table.

“Your honor, I made a statement under oath for the court.” He said. Judge Macintyre flipped the pages and lifted up a sheet of paper and sat back reading. The room was quiet and his eyes scanned the page and he looked back at Sutter and lowered the paper back into the file. Luke glanced to his right and Mickey shook his head, he had no idea what it said. 

“Are you his federal agent friend?” Judge MacIntyre asked. 

“Yes sir.” James said with a smile. His tone was honest and a little sardonic, he knew it was ridiculous but it was the truth. 

“Thank you Agent Sutter.” The judge said and James stepped back into the gallery. 

“I have concerns.” Luke heard them all in his tone. 

“You don’t have to be concerned.” He said immediately and the judge’s eyes focused on his. 

“Why is that?” 

“Mickey is one of the best people I know and this..” he brought a hand up and pointed a thumb at Ian. “is the other one.” 

“He taught me about cars and how to tie a tie.” He said and brought his hand up to the tie he was wearing. 

“He was there when I had nightmares, he sat up with me and wouldn’t leave until after I fell asleep. He taught me you can be smart and play the violin and still be tough. I can’t say he’s taught me a lot about girls…” he trailed off and he heard laughter behind him. Mickey laughed beside him and pushed his hand over his eyes. 

“But I know enough.” He said and he heard Mickey’s light sputter and Ian laugh under his breath. 

“He has never hurt me, not once and I knew he never would since the first day I met him.” He said and he heard Mickey let out a long breath. 

“Hm.” The judge said and Mickey shook his head. 

“Like I know about girls” Mickey said under his breath and Luke giggled. Phillip and Ian tried to cover their mouths but they were laughing. 

Mickey turned his eyes to him smiling. 

Luke tried to stop laughing and looked up at the judge, he was watching them and he saw the laughter in his eyes before he looked back down at his file. 

Ian coughed next to him trying to stop the giggles. Luke smiled and he felt Mickey’s arm pat him on the back, he looked over and he saw his eyes sparkling at him. 

He turned back to the judge and he was looking up at him over his glasses, he sat back and took them off. He looked over the crowd and turned his head, he waved the glasses in his hand and looked over the gallery and back over to where Luke and Ian and Mickey stood together. The judge sat forward and put the file aside as he slipped his glasses back on.

“I have a second petition here.” He said and Phillip stood up. He saw Ian and Mickey’s heads turn toward Phillip.

“Yes your honor.” Phillip said. “On the condition the first petition is granted of course.”

“Of course.” Judge Macintyre said with light sarcasm in his voice. 

“I have one more question Luke.” Judge Macintyre said and looked at him over his glasses with serious eyes. 

He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Are these your parents?” The judge asked. 

“Yes.” He said in a clear firm voice. 

“OK.” Judge Macintyre said with a smile and his eyes shifted between Ian and Mickey. “No returns or exchanges.” Ian giggled as Mickey smiled with a nod. 

“I’m granting the petition of adoption of Luke Stevens.” He said and signed a piece of paper in front of him and a cheer went up behind him and Ian’s arm came around him. He smiled and felt his eyes fill with tears. 

“Ahhh, I’m not done.” The judge said and everyone quieted. Ian’s arm tensed on his back. 

Judge Macintyre picked up the loose page and looked over his glasses at him as he blinked back the tears in his eyes. 

“Are you sure about this?” Judge Macintyre asked. 

“Yes your honor.” He said and Ian and Mickey both turned to him, he tucked his head down smiling and watched the judge sign the second petition. 

“I am granting the petition for the legal name change of Luke Stevens to Luke Milkovich Gallagher. “ He felt Ian’s arm pull him in and he looked at Mickey, his eyes were wide and he blinked back the tears that came into his eyes. Luke’s eyes filled and he giggled and sniffed wrapping his arm around his neck. 

“You can cheer now.” The judge said and a big cheer went up behind him. Luke watched Judge Macintyre stand up. 

“All rise.” He heard. 

“Thank you.” He said. Luke knew he couldn’t hear with the cheers but he read his lips and saw his face. The judge smiled brightly at him and Luke saw the sparkle in his eyes, he winked as he turned away to his chambers and he was being turned by Ian and pulled into a hug and he laughed as Ian pulled him back and forth. 

“You sneaky bastard.” Ian said. 

“Hey.” He said. “Don’t be mean or I’ll sick the judge on you.” Ian giggled and pushed him away from him. 

“Milkovich Gallagher.” Ian said. “Wow.”

“That’s a lotta name. “Mickey said behind him and he looked over his shoulder. Mickey was looking at him through his eyelashes with a big smile on his face. 

“Ya but I can pull it off.” He said and Mickey nodded and his hand came up on his back. 

He chuckled and felt Mickey pull him in for a long hard hug. 

Everyone started coming toward the front. He was pulled and pushed and hugged on the way out the door. He saw James through the people and stopped, he walked over to him and they started walking out together. 

“Thanks.” Luke said.

“For what?” James asked.

“For whatever you said about Mickey.” He said.

James shook his head. “Whatever I said didn’t make one bit of difference in there, it’s what you said that mattered.”

They walked out into the sunlight.

“You coming to the house?” He asked.

“Ya.” James said. “I have to pick up Ginny but I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Cool.” He said and waved at him smiling as he walked toward his truck, he caught up to Ian and Mickey and they were laughing.

“What?” he said falling in step between them.

“I can’t say he taught me anything about GIRLS?” Mickey said and Luke laughed. 

“I almost lost it.” Ian said. 

Luke shook his head. “Well you haven’t.” He said.

“The fuck I haven’t, use a rubber that’s all you need to know.” Mickey said. 

Luke laughed and Ian nodded. 

“He did teach you that.” Ian said.

“More like drummed it into my head. I can’t touch a girl without thinking I’m gonna knock her up.” He said. 

“Good.” Mickey said with a smile and Luke lifted his hand to his shoulder and pushed him. Mickey laughed and corrected his step. 

“We’re all real now.” He said. 

“Yep ’Ian said. 

“So that makes you…” He pointed at Mickey and Ian laughed beside him

Mickey glanced at him.

“No.” Mickey said with a shake of his head. 

“Come on.” Luke said as they walked up to the car.

Mickey rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. “Nope.”

“Just one time, pleaaassee?” Luke said and Mickey’s eyes went wide and he twisted his head around.

“Fuck” Mickey said as he threw up a hand. “Fine.” Mickeys said and rolled his eyes. 

“One time!” Mickey said and Luke nodded. 

“Luke I am your father.” Mickey said in his Darth Vader voice. 

“YES!” Luke said and raised his arms up. Ian giggled and Luke laughed wildly. 

“He said it HA!” He looked back and forth between them, Ian was laughing and Mickey’s was shaking his head. 

Mickey smiled. “Alright alright, lets go.” He said and opened the door for Luke. 

“I should have recorded it, damn.” He said as he got in the car. 

“That ain’t happenin’, I’m telling you that right now.” Mickey said. 

Ian got in still giggling and turned the engine over. 

“You could say it again.” Ian said and smiled at Mickey. 

“You shut up.” He said. Ian scrunched up his nose smiling and Mickey softened immediately. 

Ian backed the car out and Luke looked over and waved at Mandy and Heidi, they smiled and waved back. He looked beyond them and saw all the Gallaghers talking or heading to their cars. They were all coming to their house for the party, Mickey had a new grill and Ian had been cooking for two days. It wasn’t different, it was all the same as it was an hour ago.

But it felt different, he was Luke Milkovich Gallagher now and he was going to make sure he lived up to his big new name.


	9. Chapter 9

Ian turned the corner onto their street and pushed his foot down on the gas hard, he turned the wheel and slammed on the brakes. He threw the car in gear and pushed open the door, he got out quickly and pushed out of the car jogging around it and stopped at the mailbox. The mailman was standing frozen with a scared look on his face. 

“Hi.” He said with a big smile. 

The mailman took a step back. 

“Hiii.” He said. Ian hooked his thumbs in his pants pockets.

“Got the mail?” He asked casually.

“Ahhh yaaa.” The man said and held up his hand. Ian smiled and reached out for it, the man let it go as he stepped away. 

“Thanks.” He said and held it up. He flipped through the mail. 

“No.” Flip “No.” Flip. “No, shit.” Flip. 

He saw it. 

“YES.” He said smiling. He looked up and the man was halfway down the street moving fast. 

Ian chuckled and let his arms wave at his sides. 

He walked around the car and closed the door still smiling. He put the car in the driveway and grabbed his backpack getting out of the car, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and looked down at the envelope as he walked up to the house. He dropped it and pulled out his keys, he unlocked the door and opened it, the house was quiet and empty. He let his bag drop and walked over to the table, he lifted the envelope from the other mail and shoved the rest across the table. 

He held the envelope in his hands and took a deep breath. 

 

Mickey drove into the driveway and pushed open the door, he dropped out and slammed the door as he walked toward the mailbox. He opened it and saw it was empty. 

“Fuck.” He hissed and slammed it closed. “Fuckin’ mailman.” He grumbled. 

He headed for the house pulling out his keys. “What the fuck is taking so long?” He slid his key in and turned it, it wasn’t locked. 

“What the fuck.” He sighed and pushed open the door. He saw Ian sitting at the table. 

“You didn’t lock the door?" He asked scowling. 

Ian’s eyes came up to his and he lifted a white envelope. 

Mickey pushed the door closed and smiled, he watched Ian’s face light up. He walked to the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator, he took out three beers and walked to the table. He slid into his seat as Ian slid the envelope over. He smiled and lifted it up, he bit his lip and read the envelope. He lifted his eyes and Ian’s were on his smiling. He twisted off the cap to a beer and slid it over to Ian, he caught it and Mickey pushed the cap off of his beer and took a long drink. 

 

Luke walked down their street whistling, he carried his violin case and whistled the new song he was working on, it was a bitch but the violin part was perfectly created and he loved every minute he struggled with it. He came to the house and walked over to the mailbox whistling, he opened it and stopped. 

Empty.

“Maan.” He said. He huffed out a breath and crossed his arms. He waited and scrunched up his nose looking back and forth down the street. 

“Shit.” He said. 

‘Another day of torturous waiting.’ He thought. ‘Those people are just mean.’

“Assholes.” He said to himself. “I’ll play on a street corner.” He said and shrugged as he started walking toward the house. 

“Ya, bring in some money…” He said as he pulled out his keys. “Start a band…” 

He walked up to the door and saw it wasn’t closed all the way and his heart stopped, he focused his hearing but heard nothing. He stepped back and took a deep breath bending over and putting his violin down beside the door, he moved around the house and slipped through the fence door soundlessly. 

‘Messin’ with my family?’ His mind raged as he crept up to the grill and reached under it, he felt the gun and lifted it from the holster. 

‘I don’t think so.’ He thought. 

He pulled it out and held it up to his side as he moved up to the back door, he leaned against the wall beside the door and took out his keys and held them so they wouldn’t jangle. He slipped in the key and heard it click, he turned the knob and slipped in leaving the door open. He put his back to the wall and sidestepped through the hall. His heartbeat was steady and his breathing was slow as he took a step back into his room. 

“Remember the frosting?” He heard. 

That was Ian’s voice. He heard Ian and Mickey laugh. 

“Jesus.” He said in a long breath as he dropped his arms. 

“You weren’t there when we went to the ass end of Chicago to get his violin man.” Mickey said and Ian laughed.

“He’s what? Two feet tall and he’s all ‘I’m goin’ in there?!” Mickey said and Ian chuckled. 

Luke smiled and crossed his arms with the gun still in his hand.

“Man he’s a tough kid.” Ian said. 

“Mmm.” Mickey murmured. “You should have seen your face, with Heidi? Mickey said. 

“My face? Ian laughed “Your face was fucking hilarious.” Ian said and Mickey laughed.

“Not gay.” Mickey said and he heard Ian’s laugh turn into giggles. 

He chuckled and pushed a hand over his mouth, he lifted the gun and put it on his dresser. The dresser Mickey had carried for him, he thought and put his hand on the beat up dresser and ran his hand over it. 

“The Houdini trick.” Ian said. “Maaan.” Luke laughed under his breath. He looked up at the wall and the framed picture of the petition to change his name hung there. He saw it was a little crooked and reached up and straightened it smiling as he read it again. 

Luke Milkovich Gallagher. 

“Still don’t know how he got out of the fucking car.” Mickey said grumbling. 

“First fucking day and we lose him.” Ian said. 

“Right?” Mickey said. “Fuck up right out of the gate.”

“Ya.” Ian said. “That night was rough.” 

Luke lifted his head and looked out the door. 

“The next what ? Week?" Mickey said. 

“Yeah.” Ian said. 

‘Huh?’ He thought. 

“I get tired just thinking about it.” Ian said. 

Luke’s heart melted. They had stayed up watching him for a week.

“Maan.” He said quietly shaking his head. 

“He tried to kill his music teacher.” Ian said and he laughed silently. 

“Not kill.” Mickey said. 

“Come on.” Ian said. “You saw him.” 

“Ya but he wasn’t gonna kill him.” Mickey said. 

“Ya he was.” Ian said. 

Mickey laughed. “Ya he was.” Ian murmured his agreement and there was silence.

Luke started walking toward the door until he heard Ian say, 

“Do you ever think about it?” 

“No.” Mickey said. 

“I do.” Ian said. 

He heard a chair moving over the floor. 

“There’s nothin' to think about.” Mickey said quietly. 

Luke heard the deep love and sincerity in his voice. 

“You found him.” Mickey said. 

Luke’s eyes filled with tears and they fell fast down his cheeks, they were talking about what would have happened if they hadn’t found him. 

“Yeah.” Ian said and he heard the tears in his voice and he let the tears fall. 

There was silence again and Luke knew they were holding hands at the table. 

“He’s fuckin' ours though huh?” Mickey said. 

“Well ya, the judge said so.” Ian said. He laughed under his breath and pictured Mickey’s face, he’d flash Ian a big smile and tilt his head. 

“Come on man, he just like you.” Mickey said and he heard Ian’s chuckle and sniff. 

“No way, he’s like you.” Ian said. 

He smiled and wiped the tears off of his face and took a big breath. 

“Nah, he’s all geeky and smart.” Mickey said. 

“I’m not geeky and smart.” Ian said. 

“HA! Ya you are.” Mickey said. 

“Nah.” Ian said. “He’s just like you, all tough on the outside with a mushy center.” 

Luke giggled and covered his mouth quickly.

“Fucking excuse me?” Mickey said and he heard the hard edge in his voice. 

“What?” Ian asked with fake innocence. 

“Mushy?” Mickey said in a low voice. 

‘Oh shit.” He thought and decided to break up what could be a fight or a fuck. He slipped back into the hallway and down the hall quietly. 

“I’m fucking mushy?” he heard. Mickey’s voice was raising and he grimaced as he slipped through the door and closed it quietly. He jogged through the backyard smiling. 

‘He does have a mushy center.’ He thought and laughed to himself. He went through the gate and ran around the front of the house and slowed down at the door. 

He bent over to pick up his violin and heard “I’ll show you fucking mushy.” Mickey said. 

‘Just in time.’ He thought and stood up pushing open the door, Mickey had his hand around Ian’s neck and Ian’s eyes were narrowed.

“HEY.” He said brightly. Ian smiled and turned his eyes to his. 

“Hey.” Ian said. Mickey dropped his hand with a grunt and turned to him. 

“Where you been?” Mickey asked with a smile. Luke closed the door and locked it. 

“Oh you know, around.” He said and smiled wickedly as he walked over to the table. 

They both had huge smiles on their faces. Mickey crossed his arms and tilted his head, he looked at Ian and he looked like he had a secret.

“Ahhhh what?” He asked as he pulled his chair out. Ian lifted his hand from below the table and held up and envelope in the air. 

Luke saw it and his heart dropped, he sat in the chair with a thump. Ian waved it and turned his head smiling. 

“Shittfuckshhitt.” He said quietly and pushed a hand through his hair. 

Ian turned to Mickey. “See, like you.” Ian said. 

“Whatever.” Mickey said and waved a hand out. Mickey sat forward and slid a beer over to him, he caught it and lifted it taking a long drink. 

Ian put the envelope in the center of the table and he drummed all his fingers on the table looking down at it. 

“Open it.” Ian said. 

Luke looked up at him, he had a big smile on his happy face. 

“Come on.” Mickey said. He turned to him and Mickey waved his beer at him.

Luke let out a big breath and reached over for the envelope, he pulled it over and looked down reading it. 

His heart pounded and his brain fuzzed over, this was it. 

“I can’t.” He said and pushed it over to Mickey. 

“What?” Mickey shot out “Me?” 

“Ya.” He said. Mickey scowled and reached a hand out, he brought it over in front of him. 

“Alright, jeez.” Mickey said and looked down at the envelope and picked it up by the edges. 

Luke brought his hand up and bit his thumbnail. 

Mickey’s eyes came to his, he nodded quickly and Mickey scowled and turned to Ian. 

He lifted his hand and leaned over, he put the envelope in front of Ian. 

“Oh ya great.” Ian said with a roll of his eyes. 

Luke brought his hands together and clenched his teeth. Ian looked at him and sighed.

“OK.” Ian said and picked it up with his eyes on his. 

“Ya.” Ian said. He flipped it over and Luke’s heart dropped. Ian’s face twisted and he stopped. 

Luke’s head rolled down over his chest.

“Comeee onnn.” He said. 

He saw the envelope with Ian’s big hand come into his line of vision. 

He picked up the envelope and flipped it over, he looked up and Ian’s eyes were steady and clear, he looked at Mickey and he nodded his chin down. 

He took a big breath and opened the letter.

He saw the word accepted and he smiled. 

“Ya?” Mickey said. 

“What?” Ian said. 

He turned the letter around and they both leaned in, he saw their smiles and they both jumped up. 

“YES!” Ian said and Mickey’s arm came out and he pulled at him. He stood up and Mickey was pulling him into a hug. 

“I fucking knew it!” Mickey said hugging him.

“Ya sure.” He said. 

Ian pulled him away from Mickey and Luke hugged him hard. They swayed and he closed his eyes smiling. 

“Julliard!” Ian said pulling back.

“Yeah?!” He said. “Oh fuck.” 

Mickey chuckled and picked up the letter. He read and Ian looked over his shoulder.

“Holy shit.” Mickey said. 

“WHAT??” He said and came up next to him to read it. 

“You didn’t read it all.” Mickey said. 

“What?” He said again.

“A scholarship?” Ian said. 

“Huuuuh.” Luke said and looked down at the page. 

“A FULL fucking scholarship.” Mickey said smiling. 

“Holy shit.” He said and Mickey lifted his eyes. 

“Are you serious?” He asked in a shaky voice. 

“No, I’m fucking lyin.” Mickey said with a smirk and held it out. 

“OH MY GOD.” He said and took the letter. He read it quickly and there it was, he was granted a full scholarship.

His mouth was open and he read it again, he looked up at their smiling faces. 

“Is this real?” He asked. 

They laughed together. “Ya.” Mickey said and Ian nodded. 

“Guess your godfather is outta luck.” Mickey said. Ian giggled and hugged Mickey from behind. Luke saw Mickey’s hand come up under Ian’s and his fingers went through his. 

“Yep.” Ian said. 

“He can give us the money.” Mickey said with a harsh laugh. 

“We’ll ask.” Ian said with a teasing tone. 

“Which one?” Luke asked and folded the letter carefully and picked up the envelope.

“Don’t’ let Westford hear you say that.” Ian said.

He sat back in his seat and flipped the letter over to look at the front. Mickey sat down and picked up his beer, Luke smiled and picked his up. He took a drink and saw Ian walk into the kitchen. 

He smiled and touched the side of the envelope with his fingers lifting it to read the front again. 

It was real, that was his name on the envelope and his address. 

“I have to call James.” He said. “He’s been calling every day.” He said. 

James was his other godfather. They had argued over who was going to be Luke’s godfather at the party after the adoption and it had been hysterical. All day they had made points to all three of them as too who would be the better godfather until Mickey couldn’t take it anymore.

“Shut the fuck up.” He had said. “You, you. You’re both his godfathers.” They had smiled and turned to each other nodding. 

“You have two father’s might as well have two godfathers.” Ian had said. 

Then it had turned into a whole thing. He had two godfathers which meant he had to have two godmothers. There were a lot of Gallagher and Milkovich woman so he had ended up with three godmothers. 

Heidi, Mandy and Fiona.

Then Carl had stepped into the fray. 

“Hey, I’m his uncle!" He said. “I should be his godfather.” 

So he had ended up with three godfathers and three godmothers. 

Ian opened the refrigerator door and he saw him stand up with a big smile on his face. He kicked the door closed and he saw the big cake.

“Cake?” He said and smiled. 

“Ta da!” Ian said. 

“When did you make that?” he asked as Ian came over. 

“Last night.” Ian said and put the cake on the table. 

“You were off banging what’s her name.” Mickey said. 

“I was yes.” He said with a smile. 

Ian laughed and walked back to the kitchen for plates and forks. Luke smiled wickedly as he lifted his hand and his eyes turned to Mickey, he slid his eyes to his and smiled. 

“You should bring her by.” Ian said casually.

Luke reached over to the cake and took out a big chunk of it. 

“Ya, maybe.” He said and lifted his hand. 

Ian looked up as he walked and saw his hand. 

“Ahhh no.” He said as he stopped. 

“Mickovich Gallaher tradition. He said. 

“Who came up with that stupid idea?” He asked as he took a step back.

“You did.” Mickey and Luke said at the same time. 

Ian’s eyes went up, he let out a long sigh and the plates and forks fell to the floor with a crash as he ran. 

 

Luke sat with cake and frosting in his hair and smiled like an idiot. He drank beer and ate broken cake that was the same cake Ian made for his first real birthday and every birthday since. 

“Julliard.” Ian said picking up his beer. 

“Right?! He said shaking his head. Ian widened his eyes as he took a drink. 

“New York.” Ian said when his beer came away from his mouth. 

“Ya.” he said. “I’ll be taking like three guns.” He said turning his eyes toward Mickey. 

Mickey shook his head smiling. “Nah man you’ll be fine without ‘em.”

“Says the man with 14 guns hidden around the house..” He said shoving his fork into his cake. “..and yard.” He added as he shoved cake in his mouth. 

“No guns.” Mickey said as he picked up his beer. 

“Aww.” Luke said. Ian laughed and Luke smiled over at him. 

“We have to have a party before you go.” Ian said. 

“Ya.” He said around his cake. “A big blow out.” 

“Won’t be the same around here.” Ian said with a smile. 

Mickey shook his head and sat back. Luke saw his eyes come to his and he saw his eyes soften and then change his face into a smirk. 

“It’ll be cleaner.” Mickey said. 

“And quieter.” Ian said tilting his head. 

“Hmph.” He grunted around his cake. 

“He won’t eat all the food.” Mickey said waving a hand at him with a smirk. 

“Or leave an empty carton of orange juice in the fridge.” Ian said. 

“Mm hm.” Mickey said nodding as he lit a cigarette. 

Luke laughed looking back and forth between them, Mickey was nodding biting his bottom lip and Ian was smiling with his eyes narrowed. He knew this was their way of telling him they were going to miss him.

He was going to miss them too but they would be with him when he went to Julliard, they were his parents and they were a part of him. It didn’t matter if he was here every day or halfway around the world they walked with when he walked, they stood with him when he stood. 

When Mickey had been gone Ian had told him everything, his start with Mickey and everything that had come after. 

He had told him the good and he told him the bad.

Some of it was hard to hear and some of it was funny but all of it was them, they had loved each other and lost each other but through it all they had saved each other. Ian had said no one sees him the way Mickey does and Luke knew it was the same for Mickey, Ian saw straight into Mickey’s heart and soul. 

He knew then why they had taken him in, they had seen him. They had seen the real him underneath the scared kid who couldn’t see them with his eyes but had seen both of them with his ears and his heart. 

As Elizabeth had said he had stripped away all of what came before a little at a time starting with breaking down the wall and slipping into a fugue state. 

A fugue had started the day he came to live with them, one simple melody that played alone until a harmony was added. It sounded wrong at first until another melody came in with a different key and it all came together as one. 

Luke knew that with one broken melody, one clear harmony and one sharp key they had become the song.


End file.
